Bomber Witches: Inferno
by RobertaMorgan
Summary: May 9th, 1972. Alien militarists, known as the Teki, have ravaged northern Vietnam with war. In response to these events, President Kennedy authorizes an escalation of the conflict. It's now up to the 7th JSF to take back the northern sky, and quell the Inferno. Disclaimer: These events are semi-fictional, and may not represent the ideas or opinions of the author.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

" **No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now." -Richard M. Nixon**

In the mid 1950's, a meteor fell near the city of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. When the Vietnamese Army attempted to secure the site, they were nearly wiped out by a horde of black alien creatures. The civilians surged southward to escape the carnage, leaving thousands of homes behind. China was willing to defend its borders, but refused to intercede on behalf of northern Vietnam. Even the French Union had decided to pull out, and removed their forces from the Indochina region by 1954. In response, the United States of America reached out to the people of Vietnam, deploying Carrier Task Force 77 from Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, to the Gulf of Tonkin, seeking to quell this insurgency. The first few years consisted of ferrying survivors out of the northern regions, to safety in the south. A demilitarized zone was established at the 17th Parallel in 1954, dividing North Vietnam from South Vietnam. The enemy, referred to simply as "Teki," seemed to acknowledge the DMZ as the border separating north and south, and the violence leveled off. For fourteen years, things were quiet, and U.S. recon planes anxiously patrolled the DMZ, searching for any signs of aggression.

Then, on January 29th, a massive throng of Teki surged across the DMZ. This attack was an enemy attempt to capture and control Saigon, the newly formed capital of South Vietnam. By some miracle, the U.S. came out victorious, holding the Teki off long enough to recapture the embassy in Saigon, and allowing CTF 77 to launch an air interdiction strike, silencing the enemy forces. Four more years passed, with small insurrection attacks occurring at towns closest to the DMZ. By 1972, the American forces were able to finish defensive preparations along the DMZ, installing anti-tank mines and tank traps all along the 17th Parallel. On May 9th of that same year, President Kennedy officially authorized an escalation of the air war in Vietnam, releasing the chains of the Strategic Air Command, and allowing General Curtiss Lemay to unleash his bombers on North Vietnam. He realized soon enough that the lumbering B-52 bombers could not be sent across the DMZ alone, and the fighter escorts available were unable to protect the groups effectively from anti-air attack. As a result of the escalation on May 9th, the 7th Joint Strike Force was formed under the command of Lt. Gen. Joseph H. Moore, with an aim to assist the B-52 fleets, and help the ground forces retake Hanoi and the rest of North Vietnam. This group, in conjunction with Carrier Task Force 77, is comprised of only the toughest and best trained, and they will always get through. From the distant Osan Air Base in South Korea, these brave witches take to the sky…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Escalation**

May 8th, 1972

It was a calm morning at Osan Air Base, near the heart of South Korea. The usual hustle and bustle of civilians, traffic moving around the airbase into the capital of Seoul, and the flocks of birds flying overhead. Soon, the silence was wrenched from the air, as the sound of J97 turbojet engines roared overhead. The young children walking to school looked up and pointed, as a 23-year-old girl soared through the sky, her B-58A "Hustler" bomber units churning through the humid air. "This is Airman First Class Hailey Confer, callsign 'Boiling Point.' Osan Tower, requesting permission to land." Hailey said over the radio.

"This is Osan Tower. Airman Confer, you are cleared to land. Welcome home." The gruff controller's voice said, as Hailey touched down on the concrete runway. Upon landing, the rather tall girl docked her bomber units in the hangar, retrieved her flight recorder unit from the fuselage, and began a brisk walk to the War Room.

The War Room was dimly lit by a few red-light bulbs, and the eerily luminescent computer screens that filled it. The technicians paid little attention to Confer, as they hunched over various radar displays and scanners. She walked over to Lieutenant General Moore, the chief of the 7th Joint Strike Force, who was briefly mumbling something to a radar officer. "Lt. Gen. Moore, Airman Confer reporting." She said, saluting him.

"At ease, Airman Confer." Moore said, turning around. "Good to see you safe and sound. Anything interesting out there?"

Hailey pulled out her flight recorder unit, extracted the data tape and laid it on a nearby desk. "Yes, I found what you were looking for, a breach in the DMZ. The Teki are moving swiftly, in a flanking maneuver through Cambodia. I detected a convoy of at least 39 armored fighting vehicles, accompanied by twice as many logistics vehicles with coolant and power cells for their energy weapons. A heavy weapons platoon was following closely behind them, mainly large caliber artillery guarded by anti-aircraft vehicles."

Moore scratched his head momentarily. "We don't have the firepower to take out a convoy that large… However, word from the top brass is that the Big Man is going to approve an escalation of the air war tomorrow, during his address on the status in Vietnam."

"You mean the big guy? JFK?" Confer asked, her eyes wide as saucers.

"That's affirmative. We'll be getting those long-awaited reinforcements, which will finally give us the upper hand." Moore replied with a grin, and patted Hailey on the back.

"General." She stopped him, with a worried expression. "There's more. I found one of the forward airfields near the Cambodian-Vietnam border, they've been under siege by enemy raiders for a considerable time now. I picked up a weak distress signal coming from the pilots stranded there. They're still alive, but unable to launch any attacks without medical supplies, ammo, and fuel."

Moore grumbled in a low tone. "We really don't have time to babysit…"

"Sir, with all due respect, our reinforcements won't be arriving for another few days. Wouldn't it be wise to recover the pilots and bring them back to Osan?"

Moore deliberated, the internal confliction showing in his eyes. Hailey tried to keep professional, and yet she was visibly trembling with concern. The Lt. Gen. sighed, and walked over to the logistics officer. "Scramble a CASEVAC (casualty evacuation) unit. Airman Confer will provide guidance for the transport." He ordered, and the officer nodded obediently. Moore started for his office, before he grasped Hailey's shoulder. "You have 12 hours. Bring them back alive." He demanded, before stalking to his office.

Hailey walked back to the hangar, where her B-58 'Hustler' units were resting in the docking station. Next to it were many more docking stations, but most of them were empty. She recalled the first few years of the conflict, in the late '60's, when the stations were all full of long range bomber units and recon units. Little did they know what kind of enemy they would face, and the majority of them were written off as MIA (missing in action) or KIA (killed in action). Hailey's unit now consisted of just her, and one of the fighter pilots, Corporal Candice Drew, a Swiss pilot who flew the Hawker Hunter. It was a strange little fighter unit, which entered service with Britain in the '50's, and sold to many countries before the turn of the '60's. Candice's unit was painted in dark forest camouflage as standard, however she would consistently draw little hearts and flowers on her belongings with permanent markers, a strange habit that Hailey observed continually.

"Speaking of… where is Candice, anyways?" Hailey wondered, before spotting her near the hangar door. The slender Swiss girl leaned against the doorway, looking out across the tarmac to the transport sector. Her flight suit clung tightly to her like a bodysuit, and she was in the process of extracting her long, violet dyed hair from the suit.

"Man, it's hot out here, huh Hailey?" Candice complained.

"You're delusional. It's a nice climate here." Hailey remarked.

"It's nothing at all like the Alps… I need to cool off…" Candice groaned, unzipping the top half of her suit and pulling her arms out of the sleeves, revealing her tank top underneath.

"H-hey, Candice! We're still out in the open, yknow!" Hailey reprimanded, her cheeks bright red.

"So? It's not like the mechanics mind." Candice replied with a smile.

"Anyways, we need to get going. The 113th Airborne Infantry is undertaking the CASEVAC mission in one hour. There's an enemy convoy coming in from north of that position, and Moore's given us 12 hours to get the pilots out before that convoy gets in range."

"Fine, let's get going then…" Candice said loftily, walking back over to her fighter units. Hailey also jumped into her B-58 units, spinning up the turbojets as she performed pre-flight checks.

Meanwhile at Offut AFB in Nebraska…

Multiple generals of the Strategic Air Command were meeting in the war room, at SAC Headquarters in Nebraska. General Curtiss Lemay sat at the head of the table, smoking his pipe as usual, discussing the tactical overview for the upcoming operation. Various flags were being moved across the table, representing fighter and bomber wings of the Strategic Air Command. Down in the South China Sea was a flag belonging to the naval air forces, and it represented Carrier Task Force 77, a massive fleet whose aim was to prevent eastward expansion of the enemy forces. On the east coast of the DMZ was a former Vietnamese naval base, where enemy torpedo boats were sortieing into the South China Sea.

General Lemay was cross with the situation, evident by his fist violently slamming onto the table. "Will someone explain to me why we haven't shut those damned torpedo boats in?" He demanded gruffly. "That base has been the only real opposition to the task force, and yet every time it's bombed, more torpedo boats stream out into the open waters. I don't want excuses, I want solutions, people."

From the back of the room, a pair of eyes peered through the door, which was open just a crack. The woman watched earnestly, and the lieutenant general insignia gleamed on her shoulders. Lemay felt her gaze upon him, and slowly turned around to meet her eyes.

"Ah, Lt. Gen. Doolittle. Right on time." He turned back to the table with a slight grin. "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me."

Lemay rose from his chair, and walked out into the hall with Jamie, who took his hand eagerly. He took note of the splendorous ring on her finger, as she escorted him down the hallway. Suddenly, Jamie ducked into a side corridor, pulling General Lemay with her. She pressed both of his shoulders against the wall, with a determined grip. Curtiss was surprised, and amused at the same time.

"You certainly know how to get my attention, Lt. Gen. What can I do for you?"

"Don't call me by that distant title." Jamie responded hurtfully. "Have you forgotten that we're married now? You hardly ever come home for dinner, and this is the only way I can ever get your attention."

She was almost in tears, as Curtiss' face softened a bit. "Don't cry, my little warhawk. I realize I haven't been home nearly enough to support you, but please try to understand." He wiped a few tears from her eyes. "We're about to undertake the largest airborne offensive since the daylight bombing raids of WW2."

Jamie was pulling her handkerchief out, and stopped partway. "You mean… President Kennedy approved?"

"That's affirmative. After so many sleepless nights, we finally have the means to get something done. In fact, I was going to offer you a transfer to Osan AFB, as an instructor. But I thought I would break it to you over dinner." Curtiss admitted warmly.

"Oh, you old teddy bear…" Jamie giggled gleefully. "Only you would make a proposition like that to an expecting lady."

Curtiss' eyes widened, as he struggled to believe her. "You mean… I'm going to be a father?" He asked hoarsely.

"Surprise…!" Jamie giggled, giving him a loving smooch. "In the meantime, I have some other suggestions, if you still need an instructor…"

"On such short notice? How did you even know the position was open?" Curtiss asked, wide-eyed.

"Call it… Intuition." Jamie giggled.

At that moment, Hailey, Candice, and a C-46 Commando transport were departing on their CASEVAC mission, braving the long flight from Osan to South Vietnam. The C-46, being the stronger but less reliable brother to the C-47 Skytrain, lumbered into the air. On the left side of the nose, a title was printed in bright yellow, that read, "The Tinker Belle."

Meanwhile at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, a group of C-130 transports were preparing for the flight to Vietnam. As the C-130's were being loaded up with soldiers, the division commander noticed a red haired bun, sticking up from among the soldier helmets. "Hey! Redhead!" He called out. "Who are you? Where's your gear? I don't have any room for delinquents on my departure list!" He boomed.

"Oh, there must be some sort of mix up." The girl replied, walking over as her emerald green eyes stared right through him. She was certainly older than this big shot, in her late 40's at least, but her red hair was just as vibrant as if she was 24. "You see, I'm Lt. Col. Roberta Morgan." She smiled politely, holding out her identification badge.

The officer was flustered. "And… what is the purpose of your presence here, Lt. Col.?"

"I'm on orders from Lt. Gen. Doolittle, if you could just drop me off at Osan AFB in South Korea, I'm going to be their instructor." The officer was still confused, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"You've got guts, I'll give you that. Coming along with a group like this…" He muttered.

"Trust me, hon. I've faced far worse, and still came out on top." She laughed heartily, walking up the aircraft ramp.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Rescue**

May 9th, 1972

A forward air base, somewhere near the Vietnam-Cambodia border…

When the US had built their forward air bases in the early '60's, most of them were essentially just dirt strips. Nothing at all like the shingle runways on Saipan and Tinian, which were built by the SeaBee's in the Pacific campaign. Most of the traffic coming through the forward air bases were helicopters, and the terrain didn't matter to them. For the fighters, however, even in good weather the strips were too short for a fully loaded plane. This necessitated a low fuel load with a mid-air refueling after takeoff, or RATO (rocket assisted take off) pods attached to the craft. For the personnel that were stationed here, they had neither of those luxuries, as their base had been under siege for almost a month with no reinforcements in sight. Cut off, and presumably abandoned, their hope had come to rest on a small group of bomber witches, who had no choice but to defend the base on foot, and rely on their own marksmanship to survive.

The girls defending the base were Major Holly Jones, 2nd Lieutenant Denise Eilers, and Captain Theresa Bolstead. May 9th was just another morning for them, having no awareness of the outside world. The morning mist rose around them, generating the eerie 'fog of war' effect. Major Jones was perched on top of the barracks in the west perimeter, with a sandbag barrier to rest her M60D machine gun on. Her brunette hair was neatly tucked under a helmet, and she was wearing camouflaged fatigues salvaged from the armory. Her jade green eyes peered through a pair of binoculars, as she periodically scanned the horizon. Next to her 7.62mm ammo cans was a PRC-25 backpack radio, which allowed her to communicate with her squad. Normally, Holly would be flying her F-105D Thunderchief units, but they were damaged in an emergency landing, and there weren't any mechanical supplies left on the base.

2nd Lt. Eilers was positioned on the hangar roof, just north of Major Jones. On top of her sandbags rested a 7.62mm M134 rotary machine gun, affectionately named "Puff the Magic Dragon," or "Puff" for short, which provided a wide arc of defensive firepower for the base. Her long blonde hair and bangs were beautiful, golden waves compared to the dirty fatigues she had on. She also had a PRC-25 radio just next to her ammo cans and backpack, as she inspected her ammunition belts for faulty links. The M134 was also carefully inspected, as Denise's blue eyes scanned each nook and cranny. Eilers was one of the few pilots who flew an AC-47 Spooky in the gunship role, which further improved her gun laying abilities. The firepower came at a cost, sacrificing mobility and speed for firepower. The only hindrance greater than her minigun was the large ammo box, which she carried on an ALICE pack frame. She could've been in Thailand by now as planned, but she was stranded on the base by a high velocity rocket that damaged her unit's powerplant.

At the top of the base in the control tower, was Captain Theresa Bolstead, an A-1H Skyraider pilot who stopped for fuel at the base, just before the first attack came. The fluffy black hair was compressed beneath her helmet, and the fatigues did well to conceal her light tan complexion. Her weapon was a 20mm Hispano autocannon, which could penetrate up to 30mm of armor at 100 meters, and had a decent explosive filler for the APHE shells. The price she paid for this power was a slower rate of fire, compared to light machine guns, and lower ammunition capacity. This discouraged her from firing full automatic, as her ammo would be gone in seconds, leaving nothing but a white-hot gun barrel and an empty ammo box. For this reason, she was further restricted to single shot mode, and was acting in a sniper role from the control tower. Her cannon was fitted with a powerful x16 magnification scope, which was designed to compensate for the bullet drop of a 20mm shell.

The only combat capable soldiers left on base were the mortar and artillery crews, of which had very few shells left for bombardment. They were to be the support, if the machine gun nests ran into armored targets. Their guns mostly consisted of the 60mm mortar launcher M2, the 75mm Pack Howitzer M116, a few M72 LAW rockets, and FIM-43 'Redeye' launchers for air defense. The more powerful howitzers had been disabled in the first wave, when a Teki bomb fell on the tarmac, destroying a C-7 'Caribou' transport loaded with ammunition. The resulting fireball damaged the 155mm 'Long Tom' battery, which would've kept the Teki more than 22km away from the base.

Suddenly, Theresa perked up, as she saw something rustling leaves in the tree line. "Bad News to 'Spooky 21,' come in Denise, over."

"Spooky 21 here. You know, you really should change your callsign. You always have me on edge. Over." Denise grumbled, removing a faulty bullet from her ammo belt.

"I can't help it, it's meant to be bad news for the enemy, not for you. Over." Theresa grinned.

"Memphis Belle II here. Quit squawking unless you've got something important, over." Holly ordered.

"My apologies Major, there's a disturbance in the tree line, direct front. Might be the Teki." Theresa reported.

"Eyes up. If you spot anything, I want to know about it immediately. Use your lensatic sighting compass to estimate range, and don't bother with targets that are too far away. Conserve ammo. Got it?" Holly barked, as the two girls confirmed.

Suddenly, a supercharged energy blast flew over the bunkhouse, crashing into the mess hall with a violent explosion. Theresa looked through her scope, and spotted an enemy artillery battery on the ridge, just 15km down the road. In front of them was a column of Teki infantry, with infantry fighting vehicles shielding them.

"Major, I can probably kill the driver in the IFV, that should slow them down so our artillery can smash them." Theresa suggested.

"Take your best shot." Holly ordered. "Meanwhile, I'll fire a few bursts and get them to button down the hatches. Then they'll be relying on their periscopes and vision slits, and they'll be less likely to make an evasive maneuver."

"Requesting an order, ma'am!" Denise inquired anxiously.

"Denise, save your ammo for now. Once the artillery impact is confirmed, strafe anything that tries to duck into the foliage. I don't want any surprises." Holly said, pulling back the primer bolt on her M60D.

Holly's machine gun ripped through the jungle in 3 shot bursts, pinging off the IFV's, as the enemy infantry crowded behind it for cover. Then, Theresa took aim with her Hispano, sending a 20mm APHE bullet through the front of the lead vehicle, killing the driver. The vehicle swerved, ramming into the other lead unit, and brought the infantry to a halt behind the wreckage. Theresa pulled out her sighting compass, and picked up the radio receiver.

"Attention! Requesting artillery support on the designated coordinates!" She said, calling out the coordinates from her map and compass. "Whiskey, Bravo, X-ray, Uniform, Delta, Hotel. How copy?"

"Roger that," The gun commander said. "Standby for ranging shots, will adjust fire for maximum effect."

A distant 'thump' was heard, as the 75mm Pack Howitzers and the mortar teams opened fire, striking the edges of the road. "Confirmed impact of first barrage. Adjust fire 2 degrees right, plus 2 degrees elevation." Theresa called out over the radio.

The howitzer guns adjusted accordingly, and fired again, this time impacting much closer to the entrapped enemy. "Confirmed impact of second barrage. Adjust fire for tight grouping, fire for effect. Let 'em have it!" Theresa cheered.

Now that the correct range and direction was confirmed, the gunnery crews were ready for a full barrage. The loaders scurried about, passing ammunition from the ready racks to the gun breeches. From Theresa's point of view, she watched as the road was engulfed in high explosive fireballs, as the enemy infantry ran for the jungle.

Denise revved up her M134, and the motor began to whine as the 6-barreled monster came to life. With just one pull of the trigger, bullets began flying at an incredible rate, as the gun seemed to spit fire through the air.

Just then, another high-power energy blast went past Theresa, striking the ammo lockers for the artillery crew. There was a tremendous shock wave, and the girls could feel the heat, even from across the runway.

"Well… we're SOL now." Denise muttered, looking over her shoulder.

"Hijo de puta… That was our last lifeline." Theresa gritted her teeth.

"Girls, I don't know what to say. If nothing else, we'll go down fighting to the last bullet." Holly commanded. Suddenly, her ears perked up, as she heard a whining sound in the distance. "Jets."

Just then, a pair of jet powered witches were spotted on the horizon, as wing tips drew contrails through the humid air. "Base tower, this is Airman First Class, Hailey Confer, do you read? Over."

Theresa heard the radio hail on the console, as she opened the door behind her and crawled into the control tower. Through the crackle of the damaged radio, she managed to respond. "This is Captain Theresa Bolstead! I copy, Airman Confer! We have 3 pilots with inoperable flight equipment. Requesting evac!"

"I copy Captain Bolstead. Be advised, you have a C-46 Commando inbound for CASEVAC, pop green smoke and await pickup." Hailey ordered.

"I copy, Airman Confer!" Theresa shouted, as another barrage flew past the control tower. "Verify coordinates, Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Delta, Bravo, X-ray, how copy?"

"Good copy, Captain Bolstead." Hailey responded. "Coordinates confirmed."

"Look for green smoke, and enemy ground forces west of our position!" She said, pulling the pin of a smoke grenade and lobbing it into the air. The canister fell on the dusty runway, and a plume of lime green smoke billowed out from the smoke grenade.

The CASEVAC unit was bearing down hard on the airfield, joined by helicopter forces from Bien Hoa Air Base. Two UH-1D Huey Delta's were flanking an ACH-47 Chinook gunship, as they moved in for the evacuation. The two AH-1G Cobra's peeled off to the west, confirming the position of the enemy artillery.

The Chinook touched down on the runway first, and the .50 cal gunner on the loading ramp beckoned the girls to jump on. They grabbed their guns and ran, as the Chinook's own gunners provided covering fire for their retreat. Out of the corner of her eye, Holly saw a Willy jeep screaming out of the maintenance hangar, pulling a trailer with their damaged bomber units on it. The driver looked to be a young female mechanic, who was waving her arm frantically in the air as she sped towards them. On the back of the jeep was another mechanic, manning a Browning 1919 .30 caliber mount for covering fire.

The witches ran up the loading ramp, and Holly sprinted up to the pilot's chair. "Hold up, pilot! You need to wait for the mechanics!"

"I don't have time for this BS!" The Chinook pilot groaned. "The artillery hasn't been taken out yet, and we need to get off the ground ASAP!"

Just then, a Teki heavy weapons trooper popped out of the brush, with a portable particle disrupter which could hit as hard as an RPG-7 launcher. A charged energy shot rocketed toward one of the Huey's, which was standing by above the evac site. The shot severed the tail rotor off, as the chopper began spinning out of control, and in the direction of the mechanic's jeep. They swerved, just barely avoiding the burning wreck, as the Huey rotor blades bit into the dirt runway and broke into splinters.

"That's it, we're getting airborne, NOW." The Chinook pilot demanded, pushing up his throttle. The Chinook rose into the air like a massive dragonfly, even as the mechanics were frantically waving their arms and speeding across the runway.

"Pilot, you're relieved of duty!" Holly said, tossing the pilot out of his seat and into the troop bay. He protested, as Holly climbed into the pilot seat and put on a headset. "Any pilot willing to leave his countrymen behind is not fit to serve in the Air Force." She grumbled, before looking over at the frightened copilot. "Do you have a cargo sling?"

Meanwhile the Cobra's were cutting grass with their blades, as they sped down the dirt road towards the enemy artillery. The sky was filled with anti-aircraft lasers and something akin to flak, as the Bell helicopters dodged through falling treetops. When they emerged from the cover of the foliage, a flurry of Hydra-70 rockets flew out of the Cobra's weapon pods, right into the artillery site. A couple of the 70mm rockets hit the energy cells, which were the ammunition for the deadly howitzers. There was a bright blue light, as the cells ignited in a spectacular explosion. For good measure, they sprayed the artillery site with 7,62mm gatling gun fire. The chain reaction began setting off the other howitzers, as the Cobra's turned tail and lifted into the air, heading for the evacuation force.

Meanwhile, Theresa and Denise had momentarily exited the Chinook to attach the net-like sling, which hung from a retractable hook on the bottom of the helicopter frame. The mechanics drove closer to the net, as it rested flat on the ground.

"Who are you girls, anyways?" Denise inquired.

"323rd Combat Engineering Corps, I'm Lauren, and this is Amara." Lauren said. They were both wearing mechanic coveralls, and their faces were obscured by dust and oil. Each of them had a Remington Model 870 shotgun slung over their shoulder, and a toolbelt with various wrenches, a flashlight, a portable welding torch, and a portable rivet gun.

Lauren had coral blue eyes that peered sharply through her dirty blonde hair, which was tied up in a ponytail with a red and white polka dotted hair scrunchie. Amara was a stark contrast, with eyes like sterling silver that could probably reflect moonlight. Her curly black hair matched her skin, revealing her Jamaican origins. She was quiet, but her unyielding grip on the .30 cal hinted at the personality of a fearsome warrior.

Just then, Holly looked out the window, and saw another anti-aircraft launcher poking out of the jungle. She turned on her radio and yelled, "RPG! GET BACK!"

The energy rocket struck the rear engine pods, as the Chinook listed, nose up into the air. The rear rotor blades hit the ground with a terrible crunch, as Theresa and Denise dove out of the way. Holly fired a few .50 caliber rounds through the front window, and bailed out of the doomed gunship. The Chinook rolled away from the girls, as the front rotors scraped the ground and threw metal shards into the air.

"Captain Bolstead!" Hailey called over the radio.

"We're alright, moving to pick up Major Jones now." Theresa said, coughing. "You wouldn't happen to have another transport, would you?"

Another voice joined them on the radio. "This is Captain Norman Wright of Air Transport Command unit #44-78774, callsign 'Tinker Belle.' We are beginning our landing approach now."

Theresa and Denise rushed in to move the burning Chinook, pushing it out of the runway and revealing Holly's small body on the ground. "Holly! C'mon, get up!" Denise shouted.

Holly groaned, struggling to push herself up from the littered runway. Her arms were badly bruised from the impact, and there were several scratches on her cheek from the broken glass. "Nothing broken…" She muttered. "I'm just very pissed off."

She stumbled over, as Theresa and Denise helped her over to the jeep. The C-46 Commando landed on the runway, and taxied up alongside them, as the cargo crew lowered the cargo ramp. The jeep and trailer were secured behind a cargo net, as Theresa and Denise helped the mechanics into their seats. Amara had sustained wounds while leaving the maintenance hangar, and had fashioned a makeshift leg splint from scrap metal: something they hadn't observed until she dismounted the jeep. The 'Tinker Belle' lifted from the forlorn airfield once more, and the cargo sling pulled taut as gravity acted on the jeep's weight. They were joined by the two Cobra's and the remaining Huey Delta, who saluted them as they peeled south to Bien Hoa Air Base.

Osan AFB, South Korea…

When they landed at Osan, Lauren and Amara were loaded onto stretchers, and medical care was administered on the spot, to ease their discomfort. Holly stopped to check on the mechanics. The two were lying on stretchers, and depleted energy 'bullets' were being removed from Amara's leg, as Lauren was receiving basic first aid for her wounds.

"Lauren, Amara." Holly said, kneeling by their stretchers.

"Major Jones." Lauren smiled, attempting to sit up, winced from the pain in her back and lay back down. "We could never thank you enough for staying to save us. Had you not taken command and defended the field, we would surely be left to die there. We owe you our lives."

"We owe you as well." Holly replied. "If not for your dedication, we'd be waiting months for new bomber units to arrive from the US. SAC knows that having witches out of service is a huge blow to morale and productivity, so for that I thank you tremendously."

"You'll need someone to fix them though." Amara pointed out. "If there is one thing we could do to repay you, perhaps we could go with you, and be your mechanics."

Holly was surprised. "You say that, even as you're on a stretcher…" She almost laughed, shaking her head in amazement. "I'll sort it out later. Get these two to the hospital." She ordered the medics. Holly then crossed her arms, and winced in pain, being reminded of her bruises. Theresa and Denise helped her over to the infirmary, as their bomber units were wheeled to the maintenance hangars.

Lt. Gen. Moore was looking out of his office window, observing the group, and shook his head. "Gotta hand it to those girls, they're damn fine soldiers, and pilots. Make sure that you take good care of them, Lt. Col. Morgan."

The red-haired woman sitting across from his desk smiled. "Trust me, they're in good hands. I can't wait to meet all of them."

"There are other pilots who will be showing up tomorrow, when the B-52 fleet touches down. I trust you'll waste no time putting them through their paces." Moore concluded. "Once Combined Task Force 77 has reached Yankee Station, we'll be ready to launch Operation Rolling Thunder."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Combined Task Force 77**

Somewhere in the South China Sea…

A small US task force was cruising lazily through the open waters, gently bobbing in the waves as they broke upon the warships. Combined Task Force 77 was a naval group, specially formed for the Vietnam conflict. It consisted of 4 cruisers, 3 resupply ships, 2 battleships, 3 destroyers, 3 carriers, and 2 submarines.

The cruisers were: the Baltimore class heavy cruiser CA-70 USS Canberra, Cleveland class light cruiser CL-93 USS Galveston, the nuclear-powered missile cruiser CGN-9 USS Long Beach – the only ship in her class - and Des Moines class heavy cruiser CA-148 USS Newport News. Most them were equipped with 8-inch main batteries, some with 6-inch main batteries, 5-inch secondary guns, and 'Terrier' surface-to-air missiles.

The resupply ships were the lifeline of CTF77, and consisted of the Kilauea class cargo ship AE-32 USS Flint, the Cimarron class fleet oiler AO-54 USS Chikaskia and the ammunition ship AE-12 USS Wrangell.

The first of the destroyers was the DD-948 USS Morton – a Forrest-Sherman class design that sat between the Mitscher (1954) and Farragut (1958) class. The second was DDG-13 USS Hoel – a Charles F Adams class guided missile destroyer, not to be confused with the heroic DD-533 from the Battle of Samar Sea. The final destroyer was the DD-846 USS Ozbourn – a Gearing class destroyer which had served since WW2 with only minor changes, and was primarily used for anti-submarine warfare and fire support.

The battleship BB-62 USS New Jersey was a monster belonging to the Iowa class fast battleships, which proved their proficiency in the pacific theater of World War 2. The other battleship was the BB-60 USS Alabama, aka "The Lucky A," which belonged to the South Dakota class and was renowned for her stark defense of carrier groups in World War 2.

The three carriers were the Forrestal class supercarrier CV-60 USS Saratoga, the modernized Essex class heavy carrier CV-11 USS Intrepid, and the centerpiece of the fleet was CV-41 USS Midway: the only ship of her class, and the namesake thereof. When the Montana class battleship hull was canceled part way, it became the basis that Midway would be built on, making her the largest carrier in the US arsenal of the post WW2 period.

The first of the submarines was a Gato class, SS-228 USS Drum. Despite being a WW2 design, and considerably outdated in comparison to the Balao class submarines, Drum was a diesel electric submarine that served a twofold purpose: to hunt enemy convoys with her 6 forward and 4 aft torpedo tubes - which could launch 533mm torpedoes – and the ability to carry Navy SEALS and Underwater Demolition Teams into battle stealthily. The other submarine was a Grayback class, SSG-577 USS Growler. Unlike Drum, Growler was an early attempt fielded by the US Navy to create a cruise missile submarine. She could launch 533mm torpedoes from her 6 bow and 2 stern torpedo tubes, but was also equipped with a unique hangar 'pod' on the deck, which could hold 4 Regulus I nuclear-capable cruise missiles, similar to the V-1 missiles Germany built in WW2. They could be launched from a rail on the deck, like a floatplane catapult, but it required the submarine to be on the surface – a rather dangerous proposition in the heat of battle. More sophisticated ballistic submarines would follow her, learning from the lessons of the Grayback class.

The fleet cruised in a southwesterly direction, with the three carriers at the center, battleship New Jersey just off the starboard side of the carriers, battleship Alabama on the port side of the carriers, the cruisers up in front of the carriers, and the destroyers in the trail position with the resupply ships. Captain Chambers was standing on the bridge of USS Midway, giving orders to the crew. He was strict, but kind to his fellow sailors, taking great interest in his personnel. His crew called him a humanitarian, a philosopher, but most of the time he was known as Captain 'Larry.' Behind him stood a young 20-year-old girl in black navy dress uniform. From under her peaked cap, her pale white skin almost glowed like the moon, and her deep purple eyes gleamed softly.

One of the radar officers jokingly asked, "Who's the girl?"

Captain Chambers turned to the officer, as a sly grin crept across his face. "What, don't you know? That's Halsey's daughter you're talking about!" His voice boomed.

"Wha- You mean, _the_ Halsey, sir? Admiral Bill Halsey?!" The officer cried in shock.

"That's right. She's to be our XO, so you'd better respect her. I trust her with my life, just as I trust her old man." He smiled.

"I appreciate that, Captain Chambers." The girl smiled politely. "It's as the admiral says, I, Kurosawa Aiko, will be your XO on USS Midway. I still have a few things to learn, but I hope to learn from my fellow sailors." She bowed politely.

"You're Japanese though, right? You don't even have Halsey's family name." The radar officer piped up again.

"Yes, I'm Japanese. My father conducted much business in Yokosuka Naval Base after World War 2, managing the US fleet there. During his stay, he fell in love with one of the local women: my mother, Kurosawa Ibuki. I was born in Yokosuka, grew up around the naval base, and learned everything I could to be like my father. I still want to try my best for him, even if he's gone now…" She shivered.

There was a general silence on the bridge, and Captain Chambers put his hat over his chest in a moment of silence for Halsey. "Don't worry Aiko, I'll keep my promise to your father, and make sure you become the best admiral in the US Navy." He laughed heartily. He was about to send Aiko down to the war room for briefing, when the radar officer jolted up from his desk.

"Sir. Radar contacts off our bow. No friendly IFF." The officer said worriedly.

"Get me the Newport News." Chambers demanded, preparing to hail the Des Moines class heavy cruiser.

Before he could even pick up the phone, Chambers saw the muzzle flashes of the Midway's starboard 5-inch gun, followed by 20mm Oerlikon gunfire. He glanced out the window, just as a Teki fighter screamed down from the sky. The fighter had taken damage, but continued to careen down and into the bridge, smashing through the glass window. The front section of the bridge was engulfed in flames, as the alien craft came to a screeching halt.

Aiko shielded her eyes from the fire, and saw an unconscious Captain Chambers lying next to the dead helmsman. The rest of the fleet was in panic, as more fighters appeared from seemingly nowhere. Aiko ran over to Chambers, grabbing an extinguisher to cordon off the fire.

"Captain!" Her shrill voice rang.

There was no response, as Aiko tried to pull him to safety. Many of the officers had taken minor wounds, but peeked over their monitors to see Aiko and the Captain.

"Get the Captain to medbay! Now!" Aiko shrieked.

"XO." The radar officer said, clutching his arm. "With Chambers down… you're next in command. What are your orders, ma'am?"

Aiko stared blankly, realizing the weight of his words. "Order all units to engage in anti-air assault! Launch fighters and defend the carriers!" She said, trying to regain composure.

Even as flames continued to dance in the bridge, the F-4 Phantom jet fighters were lifted onto the flight deck via elevator, and launched to engage the enemy. Once the damage control teams had extinguished the flames, and the medics had the Admiral on a stretcher, Aiko stood alone with the radar officers and the backup helmsman. Aiko was in shock, as the men stared worriedly at her.

"I didn't think she could get any paler." One of them muttered.

Aiko was on the verge of crying, when the backup helmsman spoke up. "XO, you're the Captain until Chambers is back in good health. What should we do?"

Aiko shivered, feeling the weight and authority being placed on her shoulders. "The Phantom's should be able to provide ample cover, but keep the cruisers on high alert. We can't afford any more surprises…"

Outside the bridge, the F-4 Phantom's were trying their best to dogfight against the Teki. The enemy were just too maneuverable, compared to the lumbering Phantom, which relied on its weight and speed in a dive to catch a nimbler foe. One by one, the Phantom's began falling from the sky, and panicked cries streamed over the radio as the pilots splashed down into the sea. Most of them bailed out, and were picked up by the destroyers, but the few unlucky ones sank with their planes.

Aiko was still too shaken, and didn't know what she should do. "All that training… all the mentorship, and for what? I really can't do anything, can I…?"

Before the tears began to stream down her face, a long-range AGM-28 cruise missile struck the lead Teki fighter, as it spiraled down into the sea and crashed. The radar officer jumped up from his desk. "XO! Additional aerial contacts inbound!"

"More Teki?" Aiko asked, worriedly.

"Negative, they're on our side! We've got four Bomber Witches and a gunship witch inbound. The backup has finally arrived!" The officer cried. As the bridge erupted in cheers, five Witches flew over the fleet, fresh from Guam, with F-4 escorts flanking them.

The first was a very tall girl with a GRB-36D Peacemaker bomber unit, and a 20mm M24A1 autocannon. She was known as Master Sergeant Meryl Erickson, and by her callsign, "Magnesium Cloud." Her short lavender hair was wavy, looking almost boyish in style, as her serious periwinkle eyes scanned the situation. What was most peculiar about the girl was the miniature GRF-84K Thunderstreak jet fighter, which hung parasitically from the bomb bay of her units.

The second was Senior Airman Jane Nerger, a pilot of the early – and rather troublesome – B-52D bomber unit. She had long brunette hair in a side ponytail, red-brown eyes like pools of spiced rum, and carried a Browning M3 .50 caliber machine gun. As c/n 17187, her callsign was "Calamity Jane," and one of her signature abilities was the weapon racks to launch AGM-28 'Hound Dog' cruise missiles, which could clear out AA installations from long range. Strangely, she also had a 'Walkman' cassette player hooked to her belt, and headphones over her ears. She was a music aficionado, who carried audio casettes of her favorite songs everywhere.

The third witch was a hotshot pilot by the name of Captain Glenda Edwards, who flew the seemingly fictional, propeller powered XB-42 Mixmaster. The bizarre bomber unit relied on two contra-rotating propellers at the rear of the unit, which resulted in a considerably fast, cruciform tailed, strike bomber. She was equipped with the Browning M2 .50 cal, and an assorted payload totaling 3,600kg in internally stored munitions.

The fourth witch was Captain Danielle Thomas, a British pilot who flew the Avro Vulcan, number XH558. Known by her callsign, "Spirit of Great Britain," she had reddish-brown hair which was short and curly, royal blue eyes, and carried a modified Bren machine gun. Her special weapon, in addition to the 9,534kg of conventional bombs, was the Blue Steel missile - a long-range standoff weapon, which traveled at Mach 3 and could detonate in mid-air, causing shockwaves that could knock most aircraft out of the sky.

The last of the five witches was a small girl with medium length blonde hair hung in a ponytail, and grey-blue eyes which sparkled like the Caribbean Sea. She was flying a peculiar unit called the AU-23a Peacemaker, a counter-insurgency gunship adaptation of the Pilatus PC-6 Porter. The girl was known as 1st Lt. Shannon Fairchild, callsign "Firefly" - a spoiled heiress to the Fairchild aircraft company, owned by her grandfather, Sherman Fairchild. She was equipped with an ALICE style ammunition backpack, and a tri-barrel, XM197 electric rotary cannon, which fired 20mm bullets at up to 1500 rounds per minute.

The five witches flew over the carrier group, moving to intercept the incoming attack wave. Shannon was leading the group, her XM197 whistling as the wind carried steam away form the gun barrels. "This is 1st Lt. Fairchild, callsign 'Firefly.' Commence attack run on the enemy fighters, clear some space for the carriers to launch."

"Magnesium Cloud to Firefly," Meryl interjected. "Enemy bomber formation approaching from the northwest. No friendly IFF."

"Acknowledged. Worry about the fighters first." Shannon replied irritably.

Meryl merely rolled her eyes, as she shot down a Teki fighter, which was chasing the remaining F-4 fighters. The wounded Phantom's waggled their wings, as if to say thanks, and landed on Saratoga for repairs. A second wave of A-4 Skyhawks began launching from Intrepid, and A-7 Corsair II's on Midway started their engines, as the service crews rushed to get them on the catapult. As the carrier jets launched, Meryl kept glancing to the northwest, knowing the enemy bombers would appear at any second.

"Ugh. Magnesium Cloud, launching Thunderflash." Meryl said in frustration, as the miniature jet fighter detached from her bomber units, and soared off in search of the enemy.

"Meryl, are you questioning my authority?" Shannon demanded.

"No sir, I'm just concerned about your short-sightedness." Meryl grumbled.

"How dare you!" Shannon said, getting distracted just long enough for a Teki laser to graze her hair.

The plane was quickly shot down by Captain Glenda. "Quit arguing. Our job is to protect the carriers, not to debate who's right." Glenda said crossly.

They leveled off, and paused the argument, just as Meryl's recon plane spotted the bomber formation. "11 o'clock, they're coming up on USS Chikaskia!" Meryl said in alarm.

"Well we'd better do something soon." Danielle chimed in. "If they hit the resupply ships, we'll be 'up the creek without a paddle,' as you Americans say."

"I've got an idea." Jane raised her hand. "Captain Thomas can knock them out of the sky with her Blue Steel attack."

Danielle scoffed. "Not this close to the carriers. The shockwaves will destroy all their radar and instruments, not to mention it'll shatter every glass panel in a 350-meter radius."

Before the girls could come to a consensus, USS Long Beach opened fire with her long range Talos and medium range Terrier SAM's, and the missiles streaked towards the enemy formation. Early surface to air missiles were not very reliable, and some of them failed to detonate upon hitting the target. A few of the enemy bombers crashed from colliding with the missiles, causing collateral damage in their formation. Following an additional gun barrage from Hoel and Morton, only three bombers made it through the destroyer screen. The black Teki planes had cobalt blue markings, like lightning streaking across their bodies. The destroyer and resupply crews braced for impact, waiting. But nothing happened. As the captain of USS Long Beach stood up from his console, he could see the planes outside his window, streaming towards Saratoga. The carrier opened fire with her AA guns, just as the bombers released their warheads. Something akin to a torpedo dropped out of their bomb bays, and ignited as it sped towards the carrier. The missiles struck Saratoga in the stern, on the starboard side, ripping a hole in the structural steel as sailors were blasted off the deck and into the water.

There was a sound of a bellowing foghorn, and the radio filled with panicked chatter as the Saratoga's captain demanded damage reports. After the damage crew arrived on the scene, they found that one of the jet fuel lines had been damaged, and quickly ordered a shutdown of the fuel pumps, to prevent spread of fire. They knew that even the smallest fire on an aircraft carrier could spell their doom, with all the open space and flammable materials.

The girls watched in horror as the column of smoke rose from Saratoga, and the remaining Teki bombers splashed into the water from battle damage. Aiko looked out the window of Midway's bridge, taking in the situation. Her eyes were filled with guilt and fear from looking at CV-60, and it then turned into anger when she saw the witches sitting around in disbelief. She picked up the radio, and dialed in on their frequency.

"Get on the deck. NOW." Aiko's voice thundered.

As the fires were put out and repairs began on Saratoga, Aiko walked out to the flight deck as the five witches landed. They stood at attention in a line, saluting Kurosawa as she walked out to them.

"Who is your commander?" Aiko demanded.

The girls stepped to the side, and pointed to 1st Lt. Fairchild, who turned paler than a full moon. Aiko stepped forward, and angrily looked Shannon in the eyes. There was a violent 'smack' sound that echoed across the flight deck, as Aiko's gloved hand struck Shannon on the cheek.

"Next time you gamble, bet your own life!" Aiko fumed. "Just what were you doing up there, watching my sailors die, First Lieutenant?"

Shannon was speechless for a moment, and looked at Aiko with tear welling up in her eyes. Meryl stepped in front of Shannon, staring down at Kurosawa. "Forgive her, ma'am. It was my fault. I should've launched recon sooner, so we could've made a better command decision."

"Tell that to the sailors in the sea right now, some of which are already dead from the blast." Aiko said crossly. "It's bad enough that Chambers is in the infirmary, I can't afford any more mistakes in my task force. You girls, you're heading into 'Nam, right? I hope your instructor can whip you misfits into shape, because if we have to rely on you… God help us all." Aiko said in exasperation. She turned and walked back inside, descending to the medical bay.

The girls looked at each other nervously, trying to regain composure, as they took off again for Osan AFB. Shannon was silent the whole way, as Meryl tried to keep her calm.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Instructor**

Osan AFB, South Korea

The girls had landed at Osan AFB by evening, and parked their units in the hangar. An officer checked them in on the landing schedule, and walked them down towards their assigned barracks. Like the Bomber Witches before them, the girls were given their own separate building, away from the enlisted barracks. It wasn't so much a privilege, but more of an asylum, as Bomber Witches had taken on a different social status after World War 2. The world was ever changing, and many had come to view bombers as unnecessary arsonists - a tool of destruction, not peace. Whether or not enlisted men had this view was of no concern to the Strategic Air Command, as they preferred to avoid that iceberg altogether.

The officer opened the door to their room: a rather cramped bunkhouse attached to a head – or shower room – with a small office across from it. At the foot of each bed was a large trunk, where the girls were to keep their belongings.

"Welcome to your new home." The officer muttered sarcastically, before excusing himself.

The door shut, and all the bags simultaneously dropped to the floor. "Welcome to your new home." Shannon mocked.

"I bet this is your fault, anyways." Glenda snapped. "If you hadn't assumed command and been flaunting your heiress status, maybe we could've gotten a much nicer bunkhouse. After all, you're only a first lieutenant! You had no right to be in charge!"

"How dare you!" Shannon fumed. "I… I…"

"You don't have a rebuttal, do you?" Glenda asked crossly.

Shannon hung her head in disgrace, and plopped down onto her bunk. Meryl gave a disapproving stare to Glenda, as they started unpacking their bags.

After everything was in its place, they went to the mess hall for dinner, and returned to the humble abode. Jane had returned early, and upon opening the door they could hear slow guitar music. There was more than just a Walkman in Jane's possession, as they noticed a bulky, top-loading tape deck on her night stand. She was playing a song called 'My Sweet Lord,' by the ex-Beatle George Harrison. Jane was lying on her bunk, staring up at the ceiling and softly singing along.

"I didn't even know we could play music in here." Danielle prompted.

"Well, Jane is… different." Glenda explained. "To her, music is as essential to her daily routine as breathing air is to most people. Without it, she tends to get a little grumpy."

Soon they were interrupted, as a door on the other side of the bunkhouse opened. Eight people walked in: General Moore, Instructor Roberta Morgan, Hailey, Candice, Theresa, Holly, Denise, and one other girl.

"ATTEN-SHUN!" Moore shouted.

The girls scurried to the end of their bunks, lining up for inspection. Moore didn't seem to notice that Jane was still in her musical, trance-like state as he stepped forward to look at each of them. The heavy thumping of boots traversed the length of the bunkhouse, as his eyes scanned the room. He stopped in front of Jane. The tape had stopped, but she was still humming along, and Moore was not happy.

"Airman Nerger, could I borrow your attention for just a moment?" He asked, visibly annoyed.

Jane stopped humming, and paid attention, as Candice and Hailey joined the other girls at the end of their own bunks.

"Ladies," Moore began. "When my advisors picked you for this group, I had high hopes for all of you. You were recommended because you were top of your class, displaying exemplary performance that would impress such figures as Lt. Col Doolittle, and maybe even General Lemay himself. And that is why I must ask, why I got this after-action report from CTF 77, saying that you failed to protect the Saratoga from a Teki assault. If you are really the cream of the crop, I want to know just what happened out there?" He asked, unfolding a piece of paper from his chest pocket.

"Sir," Meryl began.

"…It was my fault." Shannon admitted. "I was full of myself and took command of a group I'd just met, without any authority to do so. If anyone is to be punished, it's me."

Moore was surprised, and almost looked relieved. Almost. "If it weren't for our situation, you would probably spend the night in the brig, perhaps even facing court martial and expulsion from the air force. But we need every plane, helicopter, and witch we've got for the upcoming operations, so I'm willing to pardon you for now. CB-1 USS Alaska and her sister ship CB-2 USS Guam just left the naval base in Subic Bay a few hours ago, and they'll be escorting the Luzon-class repair ship, USS Tutuila. She'll perform repairs on the jet fuel lines aboard Saratoga, but just know that we can't afford another mistake like this." Moore sighed deeply. "But enough from me, I'd like to introduce you to your new best friend. Instructor Morgan is a veteran of the 8th Joint Strike Force, and she will be your instructor. You are to follow her training to the letter. If she tells you 'jump,' I expect you to reply with 'how high?' If any of you act up, I'll come to visit you again. You don't want that. Now, good night ladies."

"Good night, sir!" The girls saluted, as Moore exited.

Roberta was now alone with the ten witches. She had once been in their position, young, proud, and rebellious. Now she was in her mid-40's, and not nearly as energetic as before. Yet her red head still glowed like fiery embers, matching her red air force dress. It wasn't standard issue, but she had retired at Lt. Col., and managed to pull a few strings.

"At ease girls." She said calmly, adjusting her glasses as everyone's shoulders relaxed a little. "I'm your instructor, Roberta Morgan."

"The Memphis Belle…!" Holly piped up.

"Well aren't you quite the bookworm?" Roberta smiled. "I noticed we have matching callsigns, 'Memphis Belle II.' I don't mind sharing the name, as long as you can live up to it." She winked.

"Is it really true, how you and your group took the battle of Berlin underground into the metro?" Danielle asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes, it is." Roberta replied.

"So, you're really the first bomber witch to have completed a tour of duty? That's incredible!" Glenda exclaimed.

"Why yes." Roberta answered.

"Did you really disobey your direct superior just to save your sister?" Theresa inquired.

"Ok girls, enough questions. I want you to each tell me your name, rank, and specifications, otherwise I may forget." Roberta said.

The brunette-haired girl stood at attention, her hair neatly tucked into a bun style with swept bangs, accentuating her brown eyes and blue dress. "Major Holly Jones, callsign 'Memphis Belle II.' My bomber unit is the Republic F-105D Thunderchief, and I'm equipped with a 7,62mm M60D machine gun, and I can carry up to 6,400kg of conventional ordnance. My special ability is 'Slingshot,' which allows me to drop a full load of munitions, pull a high-G turn, and depart the combat area at full speed, in the event of an emergency."

Denise stood at attention, her blonde hair neatly tied in a ponytail which contrasted her lovely blue eyes. "2nd Lt. Denise Eilers, callsign 'Spooky 21.' I'm a gunship witch, and I fly the Douglas AC-47 Spooky – a modification of the C-47 Skytrain. My armament includes a 7,62mm General Electric M134 minigun, which can put 2,000 rounds per minute down range. Her name's 'Puff the Magic Dragon,' since she spits fire from the skies. My special ability is called 'Starburst,' and it allows me to launch illumination flares that explode on contact with the ground."

Theresa's fluffy black hair bounced a little, as she realized she was next. Her brown eyes were sharp as that of a King Cobra, as she started her introduction. "Captain Theresa Bolstead, callsign 'Bad News.' My bomber unit is the Douglas A-1H Skyraider, and I'm equipped with a 20mm Hispano autocannon, plus up to 3,600kg of conventional ordnance. My special ability is 'All Guns Blazing,' which allows me a temporary boost in firepower density by means of disposable 7,62mm minigun pods under my wings."

Hailey towered over the other girls - even if just by a few inches - and her silvery-white hair ran down her shoulders, stopping just at her upper back. Her light grey eyes looked as if clouds were floating around in them, as she began speaking. "Airman 1st Class Hailey Confer, callsign 'Boiling Point.' My bomber unit is the Convair B-58 Hustler, and I am equipped with… radar. I'm actually an RB-58, the 'R' designating reconnaissance. I use the Hughes Aircraft AN/APQ-69 side looking radar, and the Goodyear AN/APS-73 synthetic aperture radar, both of which allow me to analyze geographic areas and project three-dimensional images of them for mission briefings. I can even store the data on my flight recorder, which can write it to a data tape. My only real offensive weapon besides my high speed is my ability to emit high frequency radar pulses. It's not always useful, but I can use it to overload electronic sensors, and cause a cascading self-destruct against smaller craft if they're at close range."

Next in line was the dark blue eyed, long purple haired girl, of Swiss origin. The girls across the room were staring at her – Candice's slender figure was only betrayed by her voluptuous bosom, and her well-toned hips. "Corporal Candice Drew, callsign 'Blue Diamond.' My bomber – well, more of a fighter unit – is the Hawker Hunter. I'm equipped with a 7.5mm MG 51 machine gun and 3,400kg of ordnance capacity. My special ability is 'Rauch,' which allows me a temporary increase in engine thrust, in combination with a combat smoke generator. If used correctly, I can blind a target or conceal a friendly force with titanium tetrachloride smoke screens."

Meryl was the second tallest girl in the room, next to Hailey. Her head was topped with a wavy mess of lavender hair, and her periwinkle eyes seemed to twinkle a little. "Master Sergeant Meryl Erickson, callsign 'Magnesium Cloud.' My bomber unit is the Convair GRB-36D Peacemaker, and I'm equipped with a 20mm M24A1 autocannon, and I can carry up to 32,700kg of ordnance. By the way, the 'GR' in my unit name designates it as part of the FICON project: Fighter In CONvair. Basically, it means I can carry a small parasite RF-84K, which I can use for recon. My special weapon is the T-12 'Cloudmaker' bomb – similar to the Grand Slam bomb of WW2 – which can penetrate most bunkers and cause an underground earthquake."

The shortest girl in the room, Shannon stood at a mere 5'3", and wore her medium blonde hair in a ponytail. Her grey-blue eyes twinkled almost as much as Meryl's, but they were also filled with pride. "1st Lieutenant Shannon Fairchild, callsign 'Firefly.' My gunship unit is the Fairchild AU-23a Peacemaker…"

"Wait," Roberta stopped her. "You and Meryl are both Peacemakers?"

"The Fairchild AU-23a Peacemaker is a counter insurgency gunship unit, developed from the Pilatus PC-6 Porter. The Convair B-36 Peacemaker that Meryl uses is a heavy bomber." Shannon explained. "My weapon of choice is the 20mm XM-197 gatling gun, which is basically a three-barrel version of the M61 Vulcan. I can carry ordnance as well, but only up to 873kg. My special weapon is a tactical display, which assists in gun laying on small targets, like missiles. It's still very early concept and temperamental, so the battery doesn't last very long."

The temperamental Glenda had medium length black hair, and curly bangs much like 1950's hairstyles. Her eyes were an unnatural shade of crimson red, which most people found rather intimidating. "Captain Glenda Edwards, callsign 'Crux.' My bomber unit is the XB-42 Mixmaster, I'm equipped with a Browning M2 .50 caliber, and I can carry up to 3,600kg of ordnance. Also just putting this out there, my unit was the fastest piston-engine bomber in its class. But you've probably never heard of it, because it was just around the turn of the jet era, and the project didn't receive any more funding to get past prototype stage. The engineers tried to salvage the situation by creating another prototype: the XB-43 Jetmaster, but it just didn't make the cut. I got to keep the XB-42 as a sort of trophy, after making a new record for speed in transcontinental flight. In a race against my colleague, Lt. Col. Harriet Warden, from Long Beach, CA to Bolling AFB in Washington, D.C., I crossed the finish line in just a little over 5 hours. I won, of course, setting a speed record of 697.8 km/h at the fastest point. The only other bomber unit I've flown was the Northrop YB-49, but that's a story for another day. My special ability is 'No Bullets Fly,' which increases my magic shield area by 50%. It only lasts for a few minutes, and I can't use my guns while the ability is active."

"Your callsign is 'Crux?' How did you choose that?" Roberta asked.

"My bomber unit has a rare cruciform tail design, and it reminded me of the Southern Cross my mother always told me about. It was something I noticed when I was assigned to the unit, and it just kind of stuck."

Danielle waited patiently for Glenda to finish, ever so slightly tapping her foot. Her long brunette hair was tied in an elaborate French braid, and her crystal blue eyes seemed colder than the Arctic Ocean. "Captain Danielle Thomas of the Royal Air Force, callsign 'Spirit of Great Britain.' My bomber unit is the Avro Vulcan, number XH558, and I can carry up to 454kg of conventional bombs. My capacity is limited because of my special weapon, the 'Blue Steel' missile. It's a missile that can travel at speeds exceeding Mach 3, penetrating most air defense networks before detonating a high yield shockwave that can stall small planes and knock out early warning radar systems in a 350 meter radius."

Jane was still humming very softly when she realized it was her turn. Her long, dark brunette hair was tied in a side-ponytail, which seemed to wrap lazily around her waist. It matched her eyes, which were a reddish-brown color like spiced rum. "Senior Airman Jane Nerger, c/n 17187, callsign 'Calamity Jane.' My bomber unit is the new Boeing B-52D Stratofortress. I'm equipped with the Browning M3 .50 cal, which has a higher rate of fire over the M2, and I can carry around 24,500kg of ordnance. In addition, I can also carry AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missiles, for silencing AA installations from long range."

"So why is your callsign 'Calamity Jane?'" Roberta asked.

"Well…" Jane squirmed a little. "During training missions on the B-36 Peacemaker in the '50's, I encountered severe engine trouble while conducting a simulated bombing run on San Francisco. Not long after departing Eielson AFB in Alaska, three of my ten engines were disabled by ice buildup in the carburetor air intake, leaving me with insufficient power for flight. As a result… I had to jettison the test weapon, which was a Mark IV nuclear bomb without its plutonium core, over the Inside Passage in southeastern Alaska. With the decrease in weight, I made it to Princess Royal Island in British Columbia, where I made a crash landing and was rescued almost seven hours later. The remains of the weapon were never found, making it the first lost nuclear weapon in US history. I'm not proud of that record, but I won't let that hinder me from improving."

"Well, looks like we have a great group here." Roberta concluded. "Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't even get to you yet." She said, making a nod to the last girl in the line.

"Who, me?" The girl replied.

"That's no way to respond to a Lt. Col." Shannon muttered.

"Neither is speaking without being spoken to." Roberta reprimanded Shannon, before returning her attention to the last girl. "As I recall, you're one of the Midway girls, correct?"

The Texan girl's black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, with her bangs swept to the side. She also wore large circular glasses which sat rather heavily in front of her sea foam green eyes. "Ensign Addison Murphy, callsign 'Yellow Rose.' My bomber unit is the Lockheed S-3A Viking, which is relatively new in the US Naval Air Force. My weapons include a 20mm Oerlikon autocannon, 2,267kg of ordnance, my AN/ASQ-81 magnetic anomaly detector, and my ability to deploy sonobuoys. Because I'm not a 'front-line' attacker, I tend to fly supporting role for other witches. My special weapon is the AGM-65 'Maverick' air-to-surface missile, which allows me to hit multiple targets of interest simultaneously. I can carry at least eight of them without hindering my aerial performance."

"You're not in any way related to Audie Murphy, are you?" Jane asked, somewhat out of the blue.

"He was my grandfather, yes… I don't know him that well, my parents kept me away from him, after his episodes of PTSD and drug addictions. I'm told he was a great hero, though." Addison admitted.

"Maybe we should get back on track..." Roberta smiled nervously. "I have to say, I'm surprised that some of you are without special abilities, but I guess that's just a sign of the times…"

"To be fair," Glenda interjected. "Most of these new-fangled jet units consume so much power, that their pilots never developed special abilities, and had to compensate with extra weapons. My case is a rare one, where I haven't spent enough time in the unit to develop a useful skill, at least not yet."

"I wouldn't be so harsh on yourself." Roberta smiled reassuringly. "Now, get to bed, all of you. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Good night Instructor Roberta!" The girls shouted, as they climbed into their bunks.

The next morning, at 0600 hours, the Reveille bugle went off. The brass music shattered peaceful dreams across the base, as the girls scrambled to make their beds and prepare for morning inspection.

"Ugh. Is it like this every morning? I'm never going to get any beauty sleep…" Shannon yawned.

"It could be worse. Better a bugle than an explosion." Glenda answered.

Shannon shot an angry glare at Glenda, just as Roberta walked in, dressed in uniform. Hailey was beside her, and she looked very worn out.

"Hailey, where have you been?" Candice wondered.

Hailey yawned. "I was out on night-time recon. For your mission."

"Mission?" The girls echoed in disbelief.

"That's right." Roberta replied. "My philosophy is that you learn most from hands-on work. So, I had Hailey gather intelligence data on your first mission."

Hailey stepped forward, projecting a 3D image of a mountain range in North Vietnam.

"This mountain range is the closest you will ever get to the infamous 'Thud Ridge.'" Roberta pointed out. "If you can successfully make an attack run through this range, without flaws, you'll be ready to join the big leagues, and run through the real 'Thud Ridge' into downtown Hanoi. If you can't make the run, you must try again tomorrow. Until you get this run down, I cannot allow you to proceed into Operation Linebacker, per General Lemay's orders."

"That's insane!" Shannon blurted out. "How could anyone make that run without smashing into the cliff?"

"Impossible." Jane muttered.

"That's one tight passage, isn't there any other way we can prove our worth to you?" Glenda asked.

"No, there isn't. This order comes from the top." Roberta admitted. "You have to do this, or we won't be part of Linebacker. However, I can tell you that it's not impossible. …How do I know that? Well… I'm going with you."

The room went silent for a solid minute, and the girls stared at Roberta as if she was insane.

"No offense ma'am, but you're nearly 40. Do you even have any magic energy left? I'm not putting you down, I'm just concerned for your safety." Holly worried.

"I appreciate that, but the best leaders lead by example, and you'd be surprised what this old fox can do." Roberta winked, flexing her arm. "Now, get some breakfast, and meet me in the hangar at 0800."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Fox on the Run**

At 0800 hours, the girls assembled in the hangar at Osan AFB. Their units were neatly docked at the launching zone, as the mechanics Lauren and Amara were sleeping in the tool corner on a cot. Nobody could really blame them – it'd been tough repairing all ten units overnight. But there was an 11th unit in the hangar, one the girls were not familiar with. The anachronic shape of a WWII bomber unit, painted in olive drab, with the proud 8th JSF roundel on the tail. Next to it, stood Instructor Roberta, in her red air force instructor dress.

"When you said, 'I'm going with you,' I didn't think you really meant it." Holly said worriedly.

"Afraid you can't keep up?" Roberta joked. "In all seriousness, I've done conditioning flights over the years, so I am current in my pilot certifications. As for my magic output at this age, it's not something you should worry about. It's not like we'll be getting shot at, and even if that happens, I'll be counting on you to escort me."

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better." Holly admitted, as she mounted her bomber unit.

The girls all mounted their respective unit, and the automated weapon racks dispensed their guns to them. Roberta stood in front of the group, slipping her legs into the B-17F bomber units. Her red fox ears and tail appeared, as she fired up the starter. There was a gentle whining sound as the starter engaged, and then a loud roar, as the engines turned over. It was a memorable sound that filled the room with the drone of radial piston engines, as Roberta gave the other girls the signal to start.

By contrast, the jet engines took longer to start up, and drowned out Roberta with a roar ten times as loud. Lauren and Amara jumped out of their cot and scrambled for cover behind a tool cabinet. As the mechanic girls shook their fists menacingly, the witches advanced out of the hangar, following Roberta to the runway.

Each of them had a unique familiar, as their engines started up:

Holly's familiar was the Scottish Terrier, as her short, fluffy black ears and tail appeared.

Theresa's arms became rough and scaly, as her King Cobra familiar appeared. Her hair spread outwards more, almost like the neck ribs of a traditional cobra, and a mischievous, long black tail appeared behind her.

Denise's familiar was the Californian Vulture, as a pair of dark, ruffled wings appeared atop her head.

Candice bore the brown ears and white tail of the St. Bernard, which seemed to reflect her spacious heart, as well as her other enormous aspects.

Meryl had a familiar with the grey and black feathers of a Eurasian crane, reflective of her tall stature and high-altitude flights.

Shannon's familiar bore a resemblance to the brown fluffy ears and tail of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, which made sense considering her petite build.

Jane's familiar came in the form of short, pointy black ears and tail, just like that of the Great Dane.

Glenda's familiar was a strange one, a pair of wings with brown and grey, speckled atop a layer of black feathers. It was that of the New Mexican state bird, the roadrunner.

Addison had a pair of charcoal grey ears and tail, reminiscent of the Blue Lacy dog.

As the group advanced to the runway, the grease monkeys at the helicopter zone paused their work to watch. Roberta lined the girls up with just a foot between them, as she began the takeoff briefing.

"Alright girls, you may have gone over this in training, but I'm going to reiterate just in case." Roberta spoke up. "One of the most important skills for you as a bomber witch is Minimum Interval TakeOff, or MITO. If your base falls under siege, you must know how to take off in the quickest and safest fashion. You will stand about one foot apart on the taxiway, without entering the runway, and make sure that there's no one on landing approach before you advance. As the witch in front of you advances, make sure she completes her takeoff roll before you enter the active runway. If for any reason, the witch in front of you fails to take off, notify the air traffic control and wait for them to clear the runway. Once the witch ahead of you gets in the air, you repeat the process until everyone is in the air. Understood?"

"Yes Instructor!" The girls responded in unison, as they lined up on the taxiway. Roberta was the first one to enter the active runway, after checking for planes on their final approach. The B-17F unit was never intended to have a long service life, and it was only thanks to Jocelyn the riveter that it was still working.

"Here goes nothing, Jo." Roberta muttered, powering up the engines. The girls watched excitedly as the propellers spun faster, pushing Roberta down the runway. She was accelerating for what seemed like an eternity, before achieving enough speed for takeoff roll. Roberta gently pitched up and rose above the skyline of the base. The wind struck her cheek like a freight train, as Roberta began correcting for the crosswind, and continued climbing.

"That's a real thing of beauty, it is." Addison commented.

"Aren't B-17's amazing? And Memphis Belle's too." Holly chimed in.

Addison looked confused but decided to let Holly have her moment. Roberta was entering the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and flew lengthwise down the airfield.

"Alright girls, let's keep moving." Roberta said, as Holly moved into place.

Holly's F-105D unit was a workhorse of the current USAF arsenal – a fast ground attack plane that could deliver swift and decisive punishment to any target. She checked for incoming traffic, before lighting the afterburners. Holly took off down the runway like a Formula One car, before tilting up and into the wind. The rest of the girls followed suit with their takeoff procedures, until everyone was formed up and in the air.

The 7th JSF flew down the Chinese coastline, until they reached the practice range in a secluded area of North Vietnam. According to intelligence, there weren't any Teki units for several miles around, which was peculiar considering the rapid and violent usurpation of the country. Hailey was not with them, as she had completed her overnight recon and was due for some well-deserved z's.

"Now remember girls," Roberta began. "Even once you've mastered this pass, don't think it'll be this easy in the real Thud Ridge. When you get to the real one, they'll be shooting at you. Another thing you need to remember: Do not fly above the valley. In the real run, everything above that pass is protected by an advanced network of surface-to-air missiles, and you will not be able to outrun them if you're acquired. Additionally, if you get detected, Hanoi will be on high alert and ready to swat you down. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by being fast and nimble."

Meryl and Jane both looked at each other in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" Meryl scoffed. "Nimble and B-36 don't belong in the same postal code, let alone the same sentence. How do you expect us to make this run?"

"Easy, I'll show you." Roberta grinned. "If a 40-year-old B-17 witch can make this run, you owe me an apology and a lap around the airfield when we get back. Now, follow me girls!"

Suddenly, the red fox picked up speed, and dove down into the mountain range. The girls followed her doubtfully, gaining speed as they chased their instructor. Jane hooked up her Walkman to their radio frequency, and began playing 'Fox on the Run,' by Sweet.

Much to the dismay of the younger girls, the pass was full of sharp turns and narrow ravines.

"How does she expect anyone to fly through this?!" Shannon fumed, swerving to avoid the valley wall.

"Pay attention to the instructor." Holly beckoned. "See how graceful and controlled she is?"

Indeed, Roberta was flying very well for a witch her age, managing her throttle as she entered each turn with the precision of a trapeze artist. For a split second they lost sight of her as she rounded the bend, but they soon regained a visual on the red fox tail.

"Heh, this isn't so bad." Glenda chuckled. She sped through the turn and was catching up to Roberta, but was unprepared for the next turn, and fell behind again.

"Don't be too stiff. Become one with your bomber unit." Roberta commented. "The bomber unit is just an extension of your body, and its performance depends on your composure. Think of it like riding a horse: If you're nervous, the horse will know, and neither of you will perform well."

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Danielle moaned, as her face turned pale.

"Instructor! There's a tunnel up ahead!" Holly shouted.

"I know." Roberta said, in a very matter-of-fact tone. Indeed, there was a rock wall up ahead, with only a narrow aperture which wasn't much bigger than a railroad tunnel. A sense of doubt overtook the 7th JSF, as they became wary of their instructor. "Follow me, girls!" Roberta called, as she zoomed into the dark cavern.

Holly and Candice took the lead, turning on their landing lights to illuminate the tunnel. Candice nearly hit a stalagmite and swore under her breath, as she switched on her Ekco ARI 5820 ranging radar. "Stay tight, we could run out of room real fast here." Candice noted.

"Easy for you to say!" Meryl snapped, dodging a precarious stalactite as she rolled the lumbering B-36 unit. "How much farther?!"

"We're almost to the exit! You're doing great!" Roberta encouraged.

The group roared through the dank cavern, and around the bend as sunlight peered through a wide opening in the rocky structure. Roberta buzzed out of the cavern, as a warm breeze blew through her red hair. The other girls had slowed their speed, flying almost blind as their eyes adjusted to the sunlight.

"Augh! I can't see!" Glenda complained.

"You'll get used to that. Before you know it, you'll be flying at night with no problems." Roberta assured them.

"I'm either going to kill her, or I'm beginning to like her." Glenda gritted her teeth.

Just as the witches traveled down the valley, Roberta noticed something odd about the landscape. "This shimmer. Is this what I think it is?" She pondered, as the scenery reflected light in the strangest of ways. Suddenly, she passed through an optical camouflage field, which momentarily blurred her vision.

What the old fox saw next was enough to make Lt. Col. Doolittle pale in the face, as the sky inside the camouflage dome was red and full of dark smoke. A Teki weapons foundry lay ahead of her, as the alien factory was rolling energy cells off an assembly line. They were being moved to a power plant, which utilized an advanced Tesla coil to charge the weaponized batteries with enough power to sustain Chicago for a year. Next to the weapons plant was a sort of military base and radar station, where ammunition carriers were being loaded with the deadly cylinders, to resupply the Teki front line.

"They're preparing for a full-scale invasion…" Roberta gasped, before fumbling for her earpiece. "All 7th JSF units report in. 7th JSF do you copy?"

She could hear nothing but static, as the camouflage field disrupted outside communication. The younger girls had no idea what they were about to fly into, as they ripped through the ruse at maximum speed. Even Jane stopped her music, as the shock and horror overtook them.

"Girls, I need you to be very brave." Roberta said calmly. "This is not part of the exercise, but it seems we've found a Teki weapons factory. I know I'm asking a lot from you, but we can save ourselves a lot of heartache later if we shut down this death factory now."

"We're with you, instructor." Holly said. "Even if you're a bit of a showoff, we'll do our best for you. Right girls?"

"Right!" The other girls shouted in unison.

Just then, a cacophony of bells and bellowing horns filled the sky, as searchlights began to sweep the area. "Spread out!" Holly shouted, as the sickening tone of a radar lock filled their earpieces. The sky lit up with the propellant of surface-to-air missiles, and rapid gunfire from anti-aircraft mounts on the factory roof. This was followed by the unmistakable cannonade of a 130mm gun battery, lobbing proximity fuse explosive shells in their direction.

"Memphis Belle II, assuming command. Instructor, please fall back to a safe distance!" Holly demanded.

"Uh, ok. I certainly won't object, I'm getting too old for this sort of thing." Roberta admitted, falling back from the group.

"Jane, send your Hound Dog's into those large caliber gun batteries, that'll rattle their cage. Denise and Shannon, climb to 1000ft and execute a pylon turn, fire at your own discretion. Everyone else, focus on dodging those missiles and return fire where possible!" Holly's orders came through like a barrage – almost as thick as the incoming gunfire.

The other girls wasted no time getting under way, each flying to their assigned position. Jane let loose with four of her AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missiles, and they hustled towards the gun battery with their Torpex payload. The 130mm AA guns traversed to engage the aerial torpedoes but were too slow to track the target. A fireball erupted from the gun pits, as the stockpile of ammunition detonated, decommissioning the monstrous rifles. With the larger guns clear, Denise and Shannon began countering the mid-range AA guns with their Gatling guns. Shells began to fly, as the hungry dragons spewed fire upon the target. The sheer volume of fire sliced right through the enemy gun barrels, as they were rapidly dismembered. Addison fired a spread of her AGM-65 Mavericks, and they were about to strike the factory, just as the sky lit up with lightning, and they exploded mid-flight.

"The Tesla coil… It's not just a power plant, they've weaponized it for defense…!" Holly gritted her teeth.

"I've got this. Ditch your earpieces!" Danielle shouted, as she adjusted position. "Launching Blue Steel… locked on, good tone. FOX ONE! FOX ONE!"

The chubby missile released from her Vulcan bomber unit and ignited, as it soared towards the target. The projectile approached Mach 3, before reaching the target area and detonating a tremendous shockwave. The girls managed to get their earpieces out, as arcs of electricity eagerly jumped across the radar stations array. The radar station overloaded and began drawing power at ludicrous rates from the Tesla coil.

"Now's the time! Hit them with everything you've got!" Holly shouted, as they began a high-speed bombing run. The 7th JSF swooped in from multiple directions, each dropping their explosive payloads, as the iron rain descended over the enemy. They could feel the heat, even from altitude, as the ripple of explosions tore through the factory and Tesla coil. The energy cells were caught in the fire, and set off a chain reaction that utterly destroyed the base. Denise and Shannon continued circling the scene for another minute, to ensure the deed was done before regrouping with the main force.

Nobody said a word on the way back to Osan. Even Jane wasn't playing any music as they followed Roberta into the landing approach. After landing and docking their bomber units, Holly took instructor Morgan aside.

"Tell me the truth. Did you know about the power plant?" Holly demanded.

"...I was aware of its existence. Nobody knew where it was, exactly, so Moore ordered that we be loaded with live ordnance, 'just in case.'" Roberta admitted, avoiding Holly's gaze.

"How can I trust you if I don't have the whole story? What if we'd taken casualties?" Holly pressured.

"Don't lecture me. I went through the same things when I was your age." Roberta retorted. "I followed orders, that's something you learn in the armed forces."

"Really, just follow orders? Even if they're orders you know are wrong?" Holly fumed. "You, of all people, are the last person I'd expect to hear that from."

"That's enough, Major Jones!" Roberta snapped. "Get cleaned up for debriefing. You'd better ditch that self-righteous air," Roberta said, getting in Holly's face. "General Moore is not as forgiving as I am."

Holly swallowed her pride, turning white in the face. "Me? I'm going to report to the General?" She quivered, her confidence faltering.

"Yeah, since you're the highest ranking and you decided to take responsibility. Get moving. The rest of you, I believe you owe me a lap around the field. Get to it, and be back in time for evening mess." Roberta commanded, as she walked off to her quarters.

A few minutes later, as Holly went off to General Moore's office and Hailey was just waking up, the rest of the girls headed off to the airfield perimeter in their track suits. They began jogging around the airfield as promised, which seemed much larger from the ground than the air.

"I can't believe any of that really happened." Meryl huffed.

"I'm more embarrassed that we were outrun by a WW2 vet." Glenda grumbled.

"What did you expect? She has more flight hours than you'll ever have." Danielle laughed heartily.

"What a bunch of Yankee Doodle's we turned out to be." Denise muttered.

"That reminds me of a song…" Jane's eyes sparkled.

"NO." Shannon protested.

"Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni!" Jane sang gleefully.

"What are you, a kid?" Shannon complained. "As if it wasn't punishment enough running this godforsaken airfield."

"Father and I went down to camp, along with Captain Goodwin, and there we saw the men and boys, as thick as hasty pudding!" Danielle chimed in.

"What is hasty pudding, anyway?" Candice inquired.

"It's sort of like a pudding made of grains and rice with milk." Danielle explained.

Jane picked up the song again from the next verse. "And there was Captain Washington, upon a slapping stallion, giving orders to his men-"

"-I guess there was a million!" Denise shouted.

The rest of the girls chimed in, "Yankee Doodle keep it up! Yankee Doodle dandy, mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy!"

The helicopter crews stared wildly from their helipads, as the girls jogged downwind singing 'Yankee Doodle,' and they began to laugh as some of the mechanics joined in the song.

Candice began the next verse, which surprised everyone. "And there I see a little keg, its head were made of leather, they knocked upon with little sticks to call the men together!"

Hailey ran over joyously to join the other girls, having donned her tracksuit. Hailey's familiar was the Magnificent Frigatebird, which appeared as tapered black feathers decorated with crimson, with an angled wing shape to them. "And there they had a swamping gun, as big as a log of maple, on a mighty little cart, a load for father's cattle!"

The following verse was, surprisingly, sung by Addison. "And every time they fired it off, it took a horn of powder, it made a noise like father's gun-"

"Only a nation louder!" The mechanics cheered.

"Yankee Doodle keep it up! Yankee Doodle dandy, mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy!" They all cheered.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Blood of The Bull**

Yankee Station, 17 30' N, 108 30' E

Combined Task Force 77 cruised lazily through the South China Sea, as air crew bustled around the deck of USS Midway. Aiko was sitting in the bridge, gazing loftily out her starboard window. She looked out at the main battle group, as USS Tutuila's crew worked tirelessly to repair USS Saratoga, and the two Alaska class large cruisers flanked her. A feeling of regret flooded Kurosawa's mind, as she thought about Captain Chambers, who was still down in the medical bay.

"What am I going to do, Larry…?" She muttered to herself. "I'm not ready to command CV-41... Even after everything I learned at Yokosuka, I'm still just as weak as when you found me."

"Captain, my apologies." The senior radio officer saluted, appearing next to her chair. "You're needed in the war room. Urgent call from Nebraska, it's General Lemay."

"What, now?!" Aiko jumped up and sprinted to the war room. She cautiously picked up the telephone set, which rested next on the map table. "This is XO Kurosawa Aiko of USS Midway, sir!" She said into the receiver, saluting even though Lemay couldn't see her.

"XO Kurosawa? Where's Captain Chambers?" Lemay inquired.

"He… He was injured in an air raid. I helped him get to the medical bay, but he's unconscious." Aiko said, trying not to break up.

"I see. Er, XO Kurosawa, you're Halsey's kid, right?" Lemay continued, and Aiko could hear the flipping of a memo notepad.

"Y-yes sir! I've taken up temporary leadership in Captain Chamber's stead." Aiko managed.

"We've got a job for you. It's not an easy one, but if Chambers trusts you, then so do I." Lemay stated. "We have new orders from Washington, you are to conduct a raid on Haiphong Harbor. Recon has discovered numerous cargo and ammunition ships within Haiphong – gifts from Soviet Russia to North Vietnam - but now the Teki are attempting to capture these assets. A convoy of Teki ground units left Hanoi yesterday, and they're heading to Haiphong Harbor. We cannot allow that to happen, and it is your job to send those transport ships to the bottom, by any means necessary before they fall into the wrong hands. Furthermore, President Kennedy has approved the mining of Haiphong Harbor. Nothing gets in or out. Understood?"

"Yes sir. 'By any means necessary.'" Aiko shuddered a little.

"You are permitted to use any and all methods of carrier aviation, and the 7th JSF will assist you in the raid. Rear Admiral Henderson is flying in from LPH-5 USS Princeton, to hold a briefing on the USS Midway. All the captains from CTF 77's main battle group are to be in the war room, on time. The command group will be available for auxiliary support, if you should need it. Also…" Here, Lemay's tone changed from official to fatherly. "Loosen up, kid. I can hear the phone shaking in your hand."

Aiko became conscious of this fact and held the receiver even tighter. "Yes sir!"

"I also understand you didn't have a fantastic first impression of the 7th, but believe me, we only choose the best graduates. You'll do fine, Kurosawa." Lemay said warmly.

"Thank you, sir!" Aiko saluted again, to seemingly no one in particular. The officers looked at her curiously, then returned to their work as she set the receiver down. "D-Does anyone know what Rear Admiral Henderson's ETA is?" She stammered nervously.

The senior radio officer looked at his aide, and then flipped through a clipboard on the desk. "His helicopter should be arriving in a few hours, until then, all the other captains are expected to assemble in the War Room and await his arrival. Sixteen of the eighteen attendees are already present – the two submarine skippers will be coming alongside Midway for transfer via motorboat. You however, being the host captain, are to meet him on the deck and escort him." The senior officer replied.

Aiko groaned nervously and began fussing with her hair. "Very well! I'm going to go prepare then!" She began an awkward stride out of the room, before the senior officer stopped her again.

"You know Captain, the 7th JSF will be arriving around the same time. They're coming with us to Haiphong." He stated.

Aiko's nervousness turned to disdain, as she turned to look at him. "Don't let those clumsy witches anywhere near the Rear Admiral. I won't be disgraced by the likes of them…" She said in disgust, before retreating to the XO's quarters.

Meanwhile, approximately 150 miles northeast of Yankee Station…

Rear Admiral Henderson was preparing to board a Huey Delta, onboard USS Princeton. The command group of CTF 77 was separate from the main battle group. It consisted of several large carriers and logistics ships.

Henderson's flagship was the former Essex class carrier turned amphibious assault ship, LPH-5 USS Princeton.

Princeton was complemented by LPH-2 USS Iwo Jima, the namesake of her class. Unlike Princeton, which was a converted Essex-class, Iwo Jima was the first ship to be designed and built from the keel up as an amphibious assault ship.

There was a large Alaska class battlecruiser, the USS Hawaii, which was converted to a large command ship halfway through her construction. The hull was obstructed on various intervals by towering communication relays where her main battery used to be, although she did retain the impressive anti-aircraft suite and dual-purpose guns of her sister ships Alaska and Guam.

The other communications relay ship was AGMR-2 USS Arlington, which served in a previous life as CVL-48 USS Saipan in World War 2. In the post war era, she had radio towers and satellite relays installed on her flight deck, which prevented aircraft launching, and relegated her to communications relay only.

The USS Midway's sister ship was also present - the USS Coral Sea was part of the command group and was nearly identical to Chamber's ship.

The USS Bennington was laid down as an Essex class in 1944, but was modernized under the SCB-125 configuration, which provided her an angled flight deck, new elevator designs, and improvements to the ship's seakeeping abilities – This modification had also been applied to USS Intrepid, and the other survivors of the Essex class carriers.

USS Ticonderoga, another Essex class carrier, was also present in the group, and operated under modernization SCB-125, in similar fashion to Bennington and Intrepid.

Other ships in the group consisted of WW2 veteran battleship BB-59 USS Massachusetts, heavy cruiser CA-35 USS Indianapolis, anti-aircraft light cruisers CLAA-96 USS Reno and CLAA-98 USS Tucson, destroyers DDG-24 USS Waddell, DD-951 USS Turner Joy, and DD-731 USS Maddox, in addition to Balao class submarine SS-311 USS Archerfish, and Gato class submarine SS-242 USS Bluegill.

Maddox and Turner Joy were of notable mention, as they were both present in the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. Prior to this, the US had contributed little attention to the Vietnam conflict, until Maddox's patrol group came under fire from Teki torpedo boats. The patrol group managed to evade eight of the underwater projectiles, and only sustained one confirmed hit from a small caliber repeating laser cannon on the Teki motored boats. USS Ticonderoga assisted Maddox and Turner Joy in their retreat, with air support from four Vought F-8E Crusaders. Having spent their warheads, the Teki boats retreated from whence they came, but managed to damage the wing on one of the Crusader jets with their repeating laser cannon.

The command group was several miles northeast of CTF77's main battle group, as it existed to provide air support for the B-52's, and communication relays for the US forces. Rear Admiral Henderson boarded one of the UH-1D Huey's on USS Princeton, and departed for the USS Midway, flanked by two other Huey Delta's.

Aiko anxiously awaited the Rear Admiral on Midway's flight deck, holding on to her hat as the sea breeze attempted to snatch it. The flight deck was inactive, with a few parked planes on the aft deck, and the rest in the hangar below deck. Occasionally, wisps of steam from the two aircraft catapults would drift downwind, carrying water vapor into her face.

"So much for brushing my hair and all that…" She sighed. "I hope I can still make a decent impression."

The Huey's came in from port astern, alighting on the forward deck as they blew rotor wash all over the deck. Aiko clutched her skirt tightly, as the wind attempted to flip it upwards. When she looked up, the ever-decorated Henderson stepped out of the chopper, looking rather intimidating. His eagle eyes scanned every square inch of the Midway, before they settled on the young XO.

"XO Kurosawa, I presume?" He asked gruffly.

"Yes sir! XO Kurosawa Aiko reporting, sir!" She saluted.

"At ease, XO." He said dismissively, as Aiko's hand dropped to her side. "How's Larry?"

"His vital signs are doing well, but he's still unconscious. The medical officer said that he could wake up in a day or two, or he could be out for months even." Aiko replied gloomily, staring at the floor as she walked next to Henderson.

"I've known Larry for many years, we've been on several assignments together. And the Larry I know wouldn't let such a thing keep him down, he'd be back on his feet and ready to serve his country." Henderson chuckled. "You know, he was so proud the day they promoted him to Captain. He's the first African American to reach flag rank and command an aircraft carrier. He wanted to make something of himself – make his mother and brothers proud of him. An admirable prospect, to be certain."

Aiko looked up at Henderson curiously, noticing the wistful look in his eyes. The two of them entered the superstructure, and descended below deck to the war room, via elevator.

"The Midway class certainly is impressive. It even has elevators, which my knees greatly appreciate." Henderson said, rather relieved.

Upon reaching the war room, there were eighteen captains present around the table. This included even the two submarine commanders, who had surfaced near the carrier and been transferred aboard by small motor boat. There was murmuring all around the room, as they noticed Kurosawa standing next to Henderson. Someone shouted, "Admiral on deck!" followed by a whistle, and everyone stood at attention.

"At ease, gentlemen." Henderson waved dismissively and took a seat. "As you know, we have been tasked with a combined naval and aerial assault on Haiphong Harbor, with the ulterior motive of mining it and preventing any further naval activity from the Teki. While this may seem controversial, Defense Secretary McNamara has approved the raid, that we might employ a 'shock and awe' strike and show the Teki we mean business. Now you might ask, 'Why do the Teki need conventional ammunition ships when they're so advanced?' It is rumored that before the Soviets cut ties with North Vietnam, they had a Delta class submarine go missing near Tonkin Gulf. If for any reason the submarine was near Haiphong, the Teki could have captured the boat, and all sixteen of its nuclear ballistic missiles. Secretary General Brezhnev has denied all accounts of a missing submarine, but McNamara and the CORONA observation satellites have reason to believe otherwise, since there's an empty spot in Vladivostok's submarine pen."

Henderson groaned, stretching his back as loud cracking noises were heard throughout the room. Many of the captains in the room shuddered, unnerved by the sound. Henderson motioned to the map table, which had several flag markers on it representing the ships in CTF 77. "Gentlemen, I'm not getting any younger, as you may have noticed. In fact, I should have retired last year if it weren't for the escalation. But enough of the fireside chat, I'll turn it over to Kurosawa." He grinned, leaning back in his chair.

Aiko froze on the spot, her mouth gaping as she flashed a curious glance at Henderson. All eyes in the room were trained on her, including those of the Admiral.

"Well Kurosawa," Henderson chuckled. "We already had a plan on the table, but I'm interested to see how you would prepare such an assault - give us some insight from a younger set of eyes."

Aiko's knees began to knock, and her forehead was glistening with sweat. Murmurs began to circulate the room, and she could feel the shame beginning to mount, as if an elephant were sitting on her. _"What do I do? Think Aiko, think!"_ Her thoughts raced, as she desperately attempted to recall any memory of such a plan. Even after all the time spent with Captain Chambers, she wasn't typically present in strategy meetings. It was then that she could hear her father's voice in her head, plain as day, as though 'Bull' Halsey were right next to her at the table.

" _Aiko, even in your darkest moments, there is always more than one path to victory. There are no extraordinary men – or in your case women – just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary people are forced to deal with. And when the time comes, I know you'll make me proud. Because you're my daughter, and you've got the 'Bull's' blood. Hit hard, hit fast, hit often."_

As the murmuring grew more pronounced, Aiko got a grip and put on a serious face. "Well, if I were planning the attack... I'll tell you what my plan would be." She gritted her teeth, and began moving pieces around on the map as she said this. "The Alaska and Guam will follow the battleships and provide long range fire support into the harbor. The cruisers will form a layer between the harbor and the battleships and provide mid-range fire support while also creating a defensive wall of anti-aircraft fire. Their radar and sonar will be invaluable to spot enemy ships and torpedoes. The cruiser and battleship groups will approach from the south and pound the harbor, while the destroyers come in from the north and lay mines, then exit through the south channel. The inner harbor is very narrow and close quarters, so the destroyers need to be on high alert as the situation will be fluid. The 7th JSF will also be present, to assist in the gunfire coordination, and provide air support. I'm aware that the Teki have launched numerous torpedo attacks from Haiphong, so we'll be sending in fighters to strafe any torpedo boats before they can make a run. The ASW plane squadrons will remain on standby and comb the harbor for any trace of the Delta class submarine. If it's in there, we'll seal it in with sonobuoys and mines."

Aiko took a moment to breathe, and noticed the other captains were staring wide-eyed at her. Even Henderson's eyebrows were raised, even as he sat there with all his naval awards.

"XO Kurosawa." Henderson boomed.

She shuddered, not knowing what might happen next. _"Was that the wrong thing to say? I guess it's too late to be thinking that…"_ Her mind wandered nervously.

"You really do have the blood of the Bull. You're just like your old man." The admiral smiled. "Charging in, horns poised, as if nothing could withstand you. Your father would be proud. Your suggestions present a reasonable argument, and will be implemented in way or another into the battle plan."

The rest of the naval staff and captains were dismissed, and began heading back to the shuttle boats, even as Aiko's mind was still wallowing in confusion. She was left in the war room with Henderson and the officers.

"With all due respect Admiral," She interjected. "Were you simply testing me?"

"Perhaps." Henderson's eyes twinkled. "After all, we had to see if you had the navy spirit. And more importantly," He leaned closer. "It's always nice to inspire the men with some new talent."

The young XO was grinning ear to ear, as she eagerly saluted the Admiral.

"Thank you, sir!" She beamed.

Once Kurosawa had escorted Henderson back to the Huey, she returned to the bridge of the Midway and sat down in the captain's seat once more. Despite the majority presence of male officers, she let out a long sigh as the tension began to leave her body. A few of the younger officers glanced over momentarily, as she sank into the chair.

"XO Kurosawa." The assistant air officer said, arriving on next to the captain's seat and saluting her.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" She asked, seeing the young gentleman.

"I've spoken with the aircraft handlers, we've finished installing the bomber unit docks in the hangar bay, and the 7th JSF will be arriving in the traffic pattern soon to land." He reported.

"Ugh, I forgot all about them…" Aiko groaned, sinking further into the chair.

"Sir, is there a problem?" The AAO asked, with a puzzled expression.

"First, call me ma'am, not sir. Second, keep an eye on those girls. I don't want any shenanigans aboard this carrier, not when we're so close to a major operation." Aiko grumbled.

"Yes ma'am. I'll relay to the air boss." He saluted and headed back upstairs to the flight control deck.

The girls of the 7th JSF were entering the fleet airspace and had contacted Midway's traffic control. They had gotten into a skirmish with Teki ground units near the coast and managed to take them out with relative ease. Roberta had stayed behind at Osan, insisting that Jamie wouldn't allow her to go into combat, and she was also quite worn out after the previous exercise. One by one, the girls followed the glide slope down onto the carrier, as it bobbed up and down in the South China Sea.

"We might as well be trying to land on a rubber duck in the bathtub." Glenda scoffed, as she missed the arresting gear and went around for another try.

"Don't worry, they even adjusted the wire tension for us, so it should be even easier for you." Meryl chuckled, as the arresting wire caught her bomber unit, and she rapidly decelerated.

"It could be a lot worse, at least you weren't getting shot at by portable missiles…" Denise groaned, rubbing her leg.

All of them had completed an acceptable landing, except Glenda and Denise, who were still in the holding pattern. Glenda was still cross, having missed her first approach. But Denise was wobbling uneasily in the air and looked rather pale in the face.

"Hey Glenda, does it look like something's wrong with my unit? I'm not feeling too good, and I feel unbalanced." Denise worried.

"You look fine." Glenda snapped.

"But-" Denise began.

"Just hurry up and land." Glenda interrupted.

As Denise came down the glide slope to the carrier, the mirror landing aid began to change colors, as she adjusted her flight path. Upon getting closer, something started rattling on Denise's left unit, and she began losing thrust. Then, she felt the wind picking up, as a sudden downdraft hit her in the back, forcing her altitude down. The landing lights on the carrier turned from green to red, signaling an emergency wave off to abort landing. But Denise was losing power on the left engine and couldn't correct her course.

"…Shit. Shit, shit SHIT! Clear the deck!" Denise shouted frantically over the radio.

The air boss got on the PA system, and shouted, "All nonessential personnel clear the deck! Raise the emergency landing net!"

The deck crew began raising what seemed like a giant tennis net, which spanned across the flight deck as Denise came wobbling out of the sky. She crossed her arms in front of her face, just before smashing into the carrier deck and sliding into the net. The net stretched, increasing in tension as she rapidly decelerated, and pieces of her left gunship unit went tumbling down the flight deck. Her right unit caught fire, blossoming with orange red flames as she lay motionless and bleeding.

"DENISE!" Theresa cried out from the sidelines, attempting to run over just as Holly grabbed her arm. "Let go, Holly!" She shrieked.

"Theresa, get a grip! I know you're scared but let the combat medics do their job!" Holly yelled. "You won't help her by getting in the way!"

"You don't know that! And you have no idea how much she means to me!" Theresa bawled, breaking free from Holly's grip and running over to Denise. The fire suppression team beat her there, quickly extinguishing the flames as the combat medics began running out of the ship superstructure.

Theresa knelt next to Denise, and gingerly attempted to roll her onto her back. Denise had sustained an intense scuff mark along her right cheek and was bleeding from cuts on her forehead. Her right arm had taken substantial damage from the impact and appeared to be partially fractured. Her chest was still rising and falling in shallow intervals, as tears ran down her cheek and mixed with the crimson streak.

"Oh my god…" Theresa wept, trying to feel for Denise's pulse.

The paramedics arrived alongside her and convinced her to move out of the way, as they loaded her onto a stretcher and started cleaning the wounds for bandaging. Her arm was placed in a temporary splint, as they began carrying her down to the medical bay. Theresa followed them, right until they entered the intensive care unit, and forbade her from going further. Theresa paced around the entrance to the ICU, sobbing loudly, just as Glenda came around the corner.

"Theresa." Glenda said, trying to avoid her gaze. "I'm sorry."

Theresa's hands flew up in the air. "Sorry?" She echoed indignantly. "That's all you have to say?"

"I was so upset about my go around, I completely brushed her off when she asked me for help. She was asking if something looked wrong with her unit. I mean, it looked ok, except for maybe a loose piece of sheet metal…" Glenda said sheepishly. "I thought she would be fine, and it didn't help with the sudden downdraft."

"Well…" Theresa laughed scornfully. "I hope you've learned a valuable lesson from this. Don't assume. People's lives are at stake here. She could die! And all you have to say is 'sorry.'"

"I made a mistake," Glenda began. "And you know how much I hate making mistakes, I was frustrated with myself and now…" Her voice trailed off.

"You'd better hope she gets out of this alive." Theresa warned. "Or I'm never going to forgive you." She cast a dark glare at Glenda, before sitting down and resting her head in her hands.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Holly was reporting to Kurosawa.

"I see. Any word on 2nd Lt. Eilers?" Kurosawa asked worriedly.

Holly shook her head. "Not yet, Theresa wants to be with her very much, but they locked her out of the ICU."

"I can sympathize. I know all too well what it's like to lose someone close." Aiko's gaze drifted to the large windows, where Chambers was struck.

"XO- I mean, Captain." Holly began. "Would it be possible to let Theresa see her?"

"I'll see what I can do." Aiko answered, not turning around.

"Captain, if I may, something seems… different about your demeanor." Holly noted curiously.

"Well, I'll be honest when I say I didn't like your girls at our first meeting – I still don't like them even now. But they're just like me: young and inexperienced, but capable of learning and becoming more than themselves. Just like my father told me, 'There are no extraordinary people, only extraordinary circumstances that ordinary people are forced to deal with.'" Aiko replied, with her back to Holly.

"That's very thoughtful of you, captain." Holly smiled. "I'm glad we're on your side."

Holly saluted Kurosawa, before leaving the bridge to find Theresa and the other girls. Aiko waited until she had left the room, just as a very subtle smile crept across her face. The helmsman looked over curiously, as Aiko departed to go see Chambers.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Operation Pocket Money**

Yankee Station, 17° 30' N, 108° 30' E

The sun had just begun to rise over the South China Sea, as its rays glistened on the playful waves. The main battle group and command group of CTF 77 were steaming towards Haiphong, having been relieved by the Kitty Hawk carriers USS Constellation and USS America, which were accompanied by their own cruiser and destroyer escorts.

Aiko was already awake in her quarters and had begun to do some morning stretches. The captain's quarters were much larger and far more luxurious than her XO quarters, having their own upholstered furniture and carpet. The young XO greatly appreciated borrowing the captain's room, as she went through her yoga routine. Once or twice an officer had come by to deliver paperwork and been rather confused about her practices, since yoga was not common in the western world. Eventually she got to her breakfast, before heading up to the bridge.

The bridge was already bustling, as radio officers relayed messages and coordinated between friendly ships. Upstairs, the air boss was busy preparing Carrier Air Wing 5 for deployment, and simultaneously relaying orders to the bomber witches.

Theresa was still in the waiting room near the medical ward, and had barely slept a wink, worrying all night about Denise. The smell of food from the mess hall drifted by her nose, as Holly walked in with a tray of sausage, instant eggs, and biscuits. Coupled with a glass of orange juice, Holly smiled at Theresa, even as dark circles had formed under the Hispanic witch's eyes. Holly set the tray down on another chair and sat down next to Theresa.

"Any word on Denise?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing… They haven't told me anything." Theresa mumbled groggily, wiping another tear from her eyes.

"I'm sorry for trying to stop you. Believe me when I say I'm as concerned for your safety as I am for hers." Holly assured. "It would be even more devastating if you were hurt too."

"I know…" Theresa admitted, choking back more tears.

Holly was about to hug Theresa, when a high-pitched scream pierced through the medical ward.

"DENISE!" Theresa shrieked, jumping up and throwing open the doors to the ICU.

The nurse refrained from trying to stop Theresa, aware that she'd been waiting all night, and stood to the side with her clipboard. Holly cautiously followed Theresa, and they were both shocked at the sight. Denise was laying on a hospital bed, with her arm still in a splint as it was suspended by a wire. There were bandages on her face that ran around her head and over her eyes, which completely obstructed her vision. An IV drip bag was suspended next to the bed, as the medicine flowed into her blood stream. The doctor was by her side, finishing up some paperwork.

"Relax. You're in the USS Midway's medical ward. I'm Dr. Franklin, here to take care of you. You've been out for at least 7 hours, and your body is still quite weak, so please try not to move too much." The doctor said.

"What happened… I can't see anything…" Denise whimpered. "Am I going to die?"

"No, 2nd Lieutenant Eilers, you're going to live. You sustained quite the impact up on the flight deck… If not for your reflexes and having your arms out in front, you could have ended up in a way worse shape. But you're going to be just fine, give your arm time to heal and you'll be back to normal in no time. Being a witch, your estimated recovery time is even shorter than that of a regular human."

"Please… I can't see… Can you help me?" Denise sobbed.

Doctor Franklin was reluctant at first, but then called for the nurse to help him.

"We're going to take your face bandages off slowly, so your eyes can adjust to the light. However, you still have some severe burn marks, so try to avoid touching your face, it will take some time for that to heal." Franklin advised.

They slowly unraveled the bandages from Denise's head, and eventually her blue eyes peered out at the doctor. Denise looked around slowly, squinting as her pupils adjusted, and then her eyes came to rest on Theresa and Holly.

"Major Jones… Theresa…" Denise smiled weakly.

"Good to see you again, Denise." Holly returned the smile.

"Are you feeling any better?" Theresa asked, sniffling as tears ran down her face.

"Getting there… I think. I was so scared, opening my eyes and being unable to see anything. I thought I'd gone blind." Denise sighed in relief.

"You're very lucky," Holly remarked. "and we're so glad you're still with us."

"But… I won't be part of the mission?" Denise asked worriedly. "Do you think Shannon can handle the support role without me?"

"Don't you worry." Theresa reassured. "You just focus on getting better."

"And what of my unit?" Denise inquired. "Is she… totaled?"

Holly and Theresa looked at each other nervously, and then spent a moment trying to avoid Denise's gaze.

"Oh my god…" Denise sobbed.

"I mean, most of the pieces fell off the deck and sank into the sea… Those which we could recover were irreparably scorched and twisted into oblivion." Holly began.

"Don't worry Denise," Theresa interjected. "We'll get you another unit, one even better than before!"

Holly jabbed Theresa lightly with her elbow, giving a disapproving stare.

"You know we don't have that authority." Holly said through her teeth.

"It's all right, we'll figure something out, I guess." Denise admitted. "You should get going, the Teki won't kick their own asses."

The girls stifled a laugh, as Dr. Franklin glared impatiently. Theresa gave Denise a quick kiss on the head, as they turned for the door. Denise stopped Theresa short.

"Theresa… Don't be mad at Glenda. Promise me you'll forgive her." Denise demanded.

"Ok…" Theresa grumbled.

The bomber witches assembled in the main hangar deck, a tremendous enclosed space crammed with A-4 Skyhawks, F-4 Phantoms, S-3 Vikings, and A-6 Intruders. They looked different, with their wings folded up which saved space in the cramped hangar bay. The bomber unit docks were situated at the wall adjacent to the port side elevator, a massive platform that would push aircraft up to the flight deck. The girls walked past the various aircraft, as pilots mounted their cockpits, munitions were attached to weapons pylons, and the planes were fueled up for the mission.

There were two empty spots in the bomber unit docks, one being Denise's and the other being Hailey's since she had left early in the morning on reconnaissance. Theresa stopped to look at Denise's empty dock, worrying about her friend. Holly came alongside her and put her arm around Theresa. "Don't worry, she'll be back before you know it." Holly reassured.

"Thanks." Theresa sniffled.

The girls did their pre-flight checks and inspected their weapons, as the carrier squadrons were lifted to the deck and launched, one after the other. Before they knew it, only the Vikings were left in the hangar, since they weren't needed specifically for this mission. The bomber witches mounted their units and equipped their weapons, advancing to the elevator.

For the flight deck crew, it was a strange sight to see the elevator come up, with a bunch of girls on it instead of a plane. Holly took the lead, taxiing down the flight deck to catapult no.1. She took a knee, like a track runner on the starting block, as her bomber unit was aligned with the catapult shuttle. The carrier maintenance team had installed special attachments to the bomber units, so they could hook into the catapult shuttle. The barrier rose out of the deck, a large steel wall that shielded everyone from her jet thrust, as she throttled up.

"Memphis Belle II, you are cleared for takeoff." The air boss announced.

"Roger that. Memphis Belle II, launching!" Holly replied, as she pushed to maximum thrust. The catapult shuttle helped to propel her forward up to 139 knots in just a matter of seconds, as she leaped off the edge of the deck and climbed into the sky.

The other bomber witches followed suit, each one having their weight pre-measured and calculated by the catapult crew, so that each launch had the exact amount of high-pressure steam for takeoff. Soon the girls were in the air, following the carrier air wing to Haiphong.

The naval assault was already beginning, just as the air groups arrived in Haiphong's air space. The destroyers lay in wait further to the north, while the cruisers shielded the friendly battleships, who were preparing to shell the harbor.

"This is Captain Kurosawa of USS Midway; all ships are present and accounted for – prepare for assault. Hailey's aerial reconnaissance has revealed multiple guns on Cat Ba island within Cannon Fort – an old fortress built on Cat Ba during WW2. Most of these guns are 305mm naval guns, with the smaller pillboxes on Haiphong housing 130mm naval guns, complemented by multiple dugouts hiding 85mm guns at the shore. There is a surface-to-air missile battery of SA-2 Guideline's further into the harbor, which complements their quadruple 23mm AA guns. New Jersey, Alabama, Massachusetts, Alaska, and Guam will be shelling Cat Ba island to reduce their surface to surface firepower. Once the big guns are cleared, Galveston, Canberra, Indianapolis, and Newport News will shell the smaller pillboxes and anti-aircraft batteries so the flyboys will have a clear path. Air groups, your objective is to destroy the smaller caliber guns that are dug in at the shore and provide air cover as necessary for the fleet. Tucson, Reno, and Long Beach have stayed behind to defend the carrier group against possible air attacks but be ready for recall if we need you. Once the guns have been cleared, the destroyers will swing in from the northeast, torpedo the ammunition transports, and then lay mines at the harbor entrances, but watch out for the small islands between Cat Ba island and the mainland. Is everyone clear on the objective?" Kurosawa asked.

"This is Captain Snyder of the New Jersey, leader for the shore bombardment group. Orders received, ready to begin the mission Captain Kurosawa."

"This is Major Jones, callsign Memphis Belle II. Orders received and awaiting the all clear." Holly chimed in.

"Roger. Commence Operation Pocket Money!" Kurosawa commanded, placing her left hand on her hip and stretching out her right arm in a striking pose.

"Captain, with all due respect, you know they can't see you." The helmsman commented.

"Don't ruin the moment for me." Aiko smirked.

The carriers began turning north, with Midway and Coral Sea at the front. The other carriers Bennington, Intrepid, Saratoga, Ticonderoga, Princeton, and Iwo Jima followed them as Reno, Tucson, Arlington, Hawaii, and Long Beach flanked the outer edges.

The battleships and battlecruisers adjusted course to present a full broadside toward Haiphong, elevating their guns and traversing turrets skyward. There was a sound like tremendous thunder, as twenty-seven 406mm and eighteen 305mm guns ripped the silent air, filling the sky with steel rain. The lookouts on USS New Jersey pulled out their binoculars, watching from the 'crow's nest' as the shells impacted around Cannon Fort. It didn't seem like much – being a fairly anachronic castle structure, at least until the guns emerged from the fortress wall.

"Enemy movement detected. They know we're here!" The first lookout responded.

"Of course they know!" The second lookout replied. "They'd be stupid to ignore that salvo."

The fortress guns traversed towards the battleships – some guns were in formal gun pits on carriage mounts, while others protruded from the fort itself, seeming like a giant sea urchin. There were several bright muzzle flashes, as the guns opened fire, straddling the cruiser Canberra with 12-inch shells.

"This is Captain Early on the Canberra. It seems they're on to us…!" He radioed nervously.

"Hang in there, we're loading as fast as we can." Captain Snyder replied calmly. "Your 8-inch guns won't do much to those concrete and stone walls, so just let us take care of it."

"Ro-ger." The captain of Canberra replied uneasily.

The battleship and battlecruiser line fired a second volley, and the lookouts watched as shells sailed right through the walls, in a much tighter grouping than before. One of Alabama's shells struck a powder magazine on the fort's western corridor, as the castle was engulfed in a fireball.

"Hoo-Rah. Good hit, boys." Captain Wilson exclaimed from the bridge of USS Alabama.

"In the matter of effective fire upon Cannon Fort, to Alabama well done. I say again, from New Jersey to Alabama very well done." Captain Snyder radioed, a grin appearing on his face.

"This is Captain Roland of Newport News. Commencing attack on the enemy pillboxes." Roland radioed.

Nine 203mm and six 152mm shells were fired from the cruisers, as their first volley streamed toward Haiphong's shore. Newport News and Canberra's shells struck the pillboxes with armor piercing, while Galveston fired her high explosive shells at the anti-aircraft sites. One of Galveston's volleys hit the heavy AA gun pits, disabling multiple 130mm AA guns.

"This is Captain Slack on the USS Galveston. Heavy AA artillery has been destroyed, attempting to disable SA-2 missile battery now."

Before Galveston could fire their next volley, one of the SA-2's ignited, flying off the guide rail as it barreled towards Carrier Air Wing 5, which was still over USS Alabama, en route to target.

"This is Captain Wilson on the Alabama. Enemy missile incoming! Fighters, take evasive action!"

The air groups broke formation, as USS Alabama opened fire on the SA-2 with her anti-aircraft guns. The sky was filled with tracers from Alabama's 5-inch dual purpose artillery and her 40mm Bofors guns, as they tried to track the warhead.

"Firefly, engaging!" Shannon radioed, as she zoomed to the front of the group and revved up her 20mm XM197 minigun. Her minigun was able to track the sub-sonic missile, even more so after Alabama's fragmentation rounds inflicted minimal damage to its control fins. Shannon's rounds struck home, detonating the warhead tip as the missile exploded mid-air.

"Yeah!" Shannon exclaimed. "I wish Denise was here to see that…" She said, feeling a bit glum suddenly.

"No time for that. We have a job to do." Holly interrupted, as the carrier air group reformed for the attack run.

The Skyhawks dove out of the sky with their 127mm Zuni rockets, ripple firing at the remaining AA guns to clear some space for the heavier attackers. The F-4 Phantoms swooped in low with their unguided 500lb bombs, dropping them on the SA-2 missile sites and providing additional strafing against the AA gun pits. Finally, the A-6 Intruders came in low with 500lb tail retarding bombs, for high speed low altitude bombing runs. The munitions were released from the weapons pylons and extended four fins from each weapon as they slowed down, which prevented any damage to the host aircraft. The 85mm field guns were destroyed in their dugouts, as the carrier aircraft began climbing back to altitude.

Once the field guns were down, the destroyers began moving around Cat Ba island, heading towards Haiphong Harbor for their mining run.

"This is Captain Groves of the USS Hoel. We're beginning our attack run now."

The Charles F Adams class destroyer surged forward, followed by USS Waddell, USS Morton, USS Turner Joy, USS Maddox, and USS Ozbourn. The small ships bobbed up and down in the warm waters, as they churned through the narrow channel between Cat Ba and Haiphong. Captain Groves was focused straight ahead, until his lookout got on the radio.

"Enemy PT boats! They're hiding behind the small islands!" The lookout frantically exclaimed.

"Blast. All destroyers, traverse main battery and open fire! Don't let those PT boats get in firing range!" Groves commanded.

The destroyers all turned their 5-inch guns, firing in rapid succession. But the PT boats were so small, it made them almost impossible to hit.

"This is USS Hoel. We're under attack from small enemy craft, requesting immediate close air support!" Captain Groves radioed urgently.

"7th JSF, that's our cue." Holly ordered, rolling to the left as she dove toward the destroyer flotilla.

The other girls followed suit, as the PT boats surged out from behind their rocky cover. Addison fired a spread of four AGM-65 Mavericks ahead of them, as the missiles streamed toward their target. All four missiles hit, and four PT boats sank into the water, sputtering with steam as their engines flooded. Holly opened fire with her M60D, landing a few armor-piercing incendiary rounds on an enemy torpedo launcher. The boat practically leaped out of the water, as the torpedoes detonated in a catastrophic explosion. Finally, Theresa swooped in lengthwise against the PT boats, as her eyes glowed bright yellow.

"All Guns Blazing!" She shouted, opening fire with her 20mm Hispano, as two disposable 7,62mm gatling pods appeared under her bomber unit wings and began firing. Theresa came down the channel at incredible speed, firing all her guns as she strafed the remaining boats. At the end of her run, the red hot gatling pods wound down, and she released them into the water. Theresa was panting, as she hovered a meter above the water and tried to catch her breath.

"You all good?" Candice asked.

"Never better." Theresa smiled.

"Alright girls, lets get back to the Midway. Our job here is done." Holly said, observing the destroyer flotilla as they entered the harbor.

The ammunition ships were hit by multiple 533mm and 324mm torpedoes, as they detonated in spectacular fashion and sank into the harbor. The destroyers began laying mines across the entrances, as they exited the harbor and regrouped with the friendly battle group. By this time, Alaska and Guam had assisted the battleships in reducing Cannon Fort to rubble, and the other cruisers finished sweeping up the enemy pillboxes. Carrier Air Wing 5 was already returning to the carriers, as the Bomber Witches trailed behind them.

It was getting rather late in the day, as the radar officer confirmed the return of the allied squadrons. The cloud of planes appeared in the Asiatic sky, and the carrier pilots were relieved to see the carrier fleet again.

"Captain, the attack squadrons are returning. We're beginning landing procedures." The air boss radioed in.

"That's good, thank you. At least that's one operation over." Aiko sighed.

The planes began landing one by one, but just as Addison was preparing to enter the landing pattern, she heard a sound in her headset.

*PING* The sound echoed through her head, causing her to shudder. A few seconds passed. _"Maybe it's just my imagination."_ She thought to herself.

*PIIIIING* The sound reverberated again.  
"Shit. Holy shit…" Addison fumbled for her radio, as she was filled with shock and fear. "Attention all allied warships, sonar contact confirmed. Unknown vessel detected beneath my position! Picking up another sound, suggesting the unknown vessel is flooding a torpedo tube! They're preparing to fire!"

"What in John Paul Jones…" Aiko muttered. "Destroyer squadron, move to intercept! Prepare for anti-submarine warfare! All other ships, hard to starboard and full speed! Get some distance from the harbor and launch ASW air squadrons!" Aiko commanded.

"This is the air boss. We're still retrieving strike craft - do you _really_ want to launch ASW now?" He asked, in a rather irritated voice.

"Get them in the air." Aiko demanded.

"This is Carrier Air Wing 5, we're bingo on fuel. We need to land soon, or we'll be in the drink." The squad leader radioed.

"We can't do both. Your call, Captain Kurosawa." The air boss said.

Aiko paced the floor and thought for a few seconds. "Launch the KA-6D tanker planes, we can refuel the strike planes in mid-air while the ASW squadrons get under way."

There was a long sigh from the air boss' radio. "…Alright. Hey! Drop what you're doing! Get the KA-6 up!" He barked to the air crews.

The KA-6D was a rather crude airplane, modified from the Grumman A-6 Intruder naval bomber. Its weapon pylons were replaced with external tanks filled with jet fuel, and a refueling probe protruded from the tail which could refuel other aircraft in mid-air. The bulky planes were heavily laden with fuel tanks, as they were taken up to the deck, locked into the catapult, and launched into the air. As soon as the KA-6D's were all away, the air boss began launching S-3 Vikings to assist Addison. The S-3's engines made a low-pitched humming noise, like a 'Hoover' vacuum cleaner, as they were elevated to the deck and launched.

As they launched, one of the Vikings picked up a 21-inch torpedo in the water, which appeared to be heading toward USS Hawaii.

"Sea Wolf 3 here, fish in the water! Hawaii, take evasive action!"

"This is USS Hawaii, turning to heading one-niner, full speed ahead."

The command ship began turning, which was not a forte of the Alaska class cruiser it was based on. The single rudder was not quite enough to force the ship to starboard, as the torpedo gently grazed alongside the port side and exploded near midships.

"This is Hawaii! We've been holed below the water line! Severe flooding in the engine room! We're losing power! Scrambling the damage control teams!"

"This is Kurosawa. Tucson, come alongside the Hawaii and assist in any way you can."

"Tucson here, roger that Midway."

"This is Addison, callsign 'Yellow Rose.' Positive ID on the enemy sonar contact. …It's the missing Delta III." She gulped hard.

"Stay calm, Yellow Rose. We need you to provide eyes for the other Vikings." Holly reminded.

"Roger…" Addison replied uneasily. "Activating AN/ASQ-81 Magnetic Anomaly Detector."

The protruding boom on her unit's tail activated, searching for the exact location of the enemy submarine. Addison waited patiently, shutting her eyes tight as she tried to focus on any source of magnetic abnormality. Suddenly she saw it in her mind, a dark cigar-shaped object deep beneath the South China Sea.

"Enemy submarine located! Dropping a new sonobuoy, stand by." Addison confirmed, dropping a white cylinder into the water, as it parachuted into the sea. Once the location was locked in, she transmitted the submarine's position to the other two S-3 Vikings, as they also dropped sonobuoys to triangulate the enemy's exact location.

"Target confirmed. Dropping depth charges – one away, two away, three away!" Addison called out, as she dropped several torpex warheads into the water.

Three columns of water rose from the water, as Addison listened to the sonobuoy data. "Confirmed damage on the enemy submarine… I'm losing the contact! Drop another sonobuoy." Addison barked.

Even after another instrument was dropped, Addison could no longer pick up the submarine's signature, as it faded from sonar. "Yellow Rose to Midway. Enemy submarine has fled, damage status unknown." Addison said defeatedly.

"Let them run." Kurosawa gritted her teeth. "We'll have other chances to sink that Delta. For now, return to the carrier and get some rest. I'll call up Subic Bay, Hawaii was able to stop the flooding, but she's going to need significant repairs. Otherwise, good work people." She said, as the last wave of strike craft landed on the deck.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Lost Battalion**

Somewhere in the jungle, near Ho Chi Minh Trail…

It was another night in the Vietnamese jungle. Various insects chirped in the humid air, brush swayed in the warm breeze, and the moon shone brightly through the treetop canopies. Amidst this jungle, there was a crackling noise, the sound of fire rapidly consuming fuel. The twisted wreck of a C-130 was half buried in the soft muddy ground, as its no.2 engine continued leaking oil and feeding the fire. Three girls sat around the makeshift campfire, sitting on salvaged ammo cans and rocks. The first was Sergeant Erica Halonen – a Finnish tank witch employed in the US Army, who made a living testing experimental armored units for the army R&D Department. Her tank unit was a modified T95 Gun Motor Carriage – a monstrous 90 ton unit with 305mm of frontal armor protection, a 105mm anti-tank gun, a .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun and a prototype V-12 Maybach engine which was salvaged from an abandoned Jagdtiger unit. The second was Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rhodes – a British tank witch who operated a modified A39 Tortoise tank unit. She was equipped with 228mm of frontal armor protection, a 32-pounder anti tank gun, a 15mm BESA machine gun, and a more powerful Rolls Royce Griffon V-12 engine. Finally, the third was Corporal Riley Gibb – an American tank witch who operated the M12 Gun Motor Carriage. She was equipped with a mere 51mm of frontal armor, a 155mm M1 'Long Tom' howitzer, a Browning M1919 .30 caliber machine gun, and a Wright R975 C1 'Whirlwind' radial engine. Her unit was peculiar not only for having the least armor, but also for having a gargantuan stabilization spade at the back of the unit, to keep her steady while firing.

"When I said, 'I've got a bad feeling about this,' I didn't think it'd be this bad…" Riley muttered, poking at a can of beans with a P-38 can opener.

Erica glared at Riley, as she applied a clean bandage to Elizabeth's forehead. "At least you didn't get hurt in the crash." Erica replied.

"I'm fine Erica, really…" Elizabeth giggled reassuringly.

"How's your head? You hit the wall pretty hard when we came down." Riley looked over worriedly.

"I told you, I'm ok." Elizabeth smiled.

"On another note, we need to get moving soon. The Teki that shot down our transport can't be too far away. They'll be looking for survivors." Erica noted.

"Even if they aren't, we're not far from the Ho Chi Minh trail. This place is probably crawling with Teki." Riley shuddered.

"It's probably best if we sleep in turns, we'll need our energy." Elizabeth said in a caring, matronly tone.

"Right. Let's just pray that the next thing to fall out of the sky is an angel, and not a bomb…" Erica scoffed.

"I'll see what I can do with the radio. It isn't going to be of much use, besides short-range  
communications…" Riley mumbled, fiddling with her radio set. "Almost… there!  
I've put it on distress mode. Hopefully any allied units on this frequency will  
hear the distress beacon and come for us."

"Or it'll attract a horde of Teki…" Erica raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just hope for the best and get some shuteye. We'll try to make for Hamburger Hill tomorrow, and if we're lucky we can find a field medic. Let's just hope the compass still  
works…" Elizabeth said drowsily.

The next morning, at Yankee Station…

It was another day on the USS Midway, as the Combat Air Patrol sorties were launched, supply helicopters were received, and the usual business of carrier aviation continued. A C-2A Greyhound was landing on the flight deck just as more A-7 Corsairs were launched into the air. The girls of the 7th JSF were in the mess hall having breakfast, when suddenly the doors swung open. There, in all her triumphant stance, was 2nd Lt. Eilers. Though her arm was still bandaged, she seemed to have recovered considerably.

"Morning, ladies!" Denise called out.

"Denise!" Theresa yelled, jumping up and running over for a hug.

"Whoa whoa, careful Terry." Denise cautioned. "My arm still isn't 100%, I've still got at least a day before I can use it."

Theresa slowed her approach, giving Denise a gentle hug and taking care not to hurt her arm. "I've missed you so much…" She cried, stroking Denise's hair.

"We all missed you." Meryl smiled.

"Denise, I'm sorry for being short with you." Glenda admitted. "It wasn't right of me to be so  
self-centered that I would ignore you."

"Don't sweat it, Glenda." Denise smiled. "The important thing is I'm alive and well on the way  
to recovery."

"What are we going to do about your unit?" Shannon inquired. "It's not exactly in flying condition…"

"Well, a certain someone kept bugging me-" Holly spoke up, glaring at Theresa. "So, we got a new unit from Osan AFB for you. The supply plane should've arrived this morning, and I  
really think you'll like the new unit."

"Thank you, Major Holly." Denise blushed. "I don't know what I would do if I couldn't fly  
anymore."

"In the meantime, you should eat. I'll grab you a tray." Theresa ran off to the breakfast line.

Denise sat down at the table, as the other girls continued to fill her in on the last few days.

A few hours later, the 7th JSF headed upstairs to the war room for briefing. Kurosawa was dismissing an intelligence officer, as she turned to greet them.

"Good morning, girls. I've got an urgent mission for you." She said crisply. "While on recon this morning, Hailey picked up a distress beacon emanating in the A Shau valley, a few klicks southwest of Hue. After cross referencing with Strategic Air Command's list of flights, we believe it to be a C-130 that went down en route to A Luoi airfield, a day or two ago. That transport was carrying three tank witches from the 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. They were to be the spearhead for an assault on Hamburger Hill, further south west." "Hamburger Hill? Is it shaped like a nice juicy quarter pounder?" Meryl's eyes widened.

"…No." Aiko's head drooped in frustration. "It's just a nickname, the proper term is Hill 937."

"Hamburger Hill…" Meryl said dreamily.

"Meryl." Holly stared disapprovingly, as the tall B-36 witch straightened up.

"Your orders are to find Indigo Platoon and provide support as necessary while they link up with the main attack on Hill 937. Without infantry recon, they're vulnerable to surprise flanking attacks, therefore you need to be their eyes in the sky. This is a very important operation; the hill is very heavily defended and has already cost us many brave men in previous offensives. But if you can provide close air support, the Patton tanks and infantry just might be able to take the hilltop."

"If I may, what's the strategic value of this target?" Theresa ventured.

"What's the strategic value?" Aiko echoed, drawing them over to the map table and pointing to the hill. "This hill is a major obstacle on the road to Hanoi. Any allies traveling up Ho Chi Minh Trail to Hanoi will get shelled by the fortified artillery on Hamburger Hill. The sooner we take it out, the sooner we can get to Hanoi and end this war. Moreover, the enemy is well dug in: the artillery guns are mounted in casemate fashion, protected by some sort of extra-terrestrial armor. I guess that's the Teki equivalent of a bunker."

"Any weapons restrictions?" Holly inquired.

"Remember that you'll be engaging in close air support. Use good judgement, and don't drop any bombs on our boys." Aiko demanded.

"Yes ma'am." Holly responded dutifully.

"But why don't we just use the battleships? They could just shell the A Shau valley from the sea." Shannon noted.

"1st Lt. Fairchild, perhaps I didn't make myself clear." Aiko thundered. "Ignoring the fact that the resupply ships haven't returned yet, of which we badly need more munitions… This mission requires precision bombing. Everything you drop had better land on a target or an empty patch of grass, otherwise you'll be explaining yourself to General Lemay. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Shannon squeaked.

"How come we didn't go ashore at Haiphong? Hanoi was just up the road…" Candice wondered, before she noticed Aiko's frustration and stopped short.

Aiko's eyebrows furrowed. "Because it was never designated as a landing operation. Unless _you_ wanted to go ashore… Otherwise all our ground troops had previously landed at Da Nang, and were busy advancing up the coast from there. Now, any other questions?"

The girls remained silent, looking at one another worriedly.

"Dismissed." Aiko declared, as the girls saluted her and headed to the hangar bay.

The girls descended to the hangar bay, as the maintenance crews were busy tuning and repairing aircraft. Denise followed them down to the bomber unit racks, as Amara and Lauren were driving a forklift towards them. The yellow utility truck was carrying a large crate, as Amara manipulated the controls and set it down.

"Sorry we're late to the party." Lauren apologized, hopping off the forklift.

"We hitched a ride on the C-2 Greyhound. That was quite a ride, landing on a carrier and all that." Amara beamed.

"No problem, it's good to see you girls." Holly returned the smile. "What's this crate for?"

"Oh, this is the new equipment." Lauren answered, grabbing a crowbar. "Help me with this, Amara."

The two mechanic girls took a crowbar to the front panel, as they pried the nails out from the wooden box. The panels fell with a 'thunk' noise, revealing a black, beige, and tan colored gunship unit with twin boom tails.

"This," Lauren began. "Is the Fairchild AC-119K 'Stinger' gunship unit. She's based off the C-119 Flying Boxcar transport, in similar fashion to the AC-47 you used previously. However, the Stinger addressed and resolved many grievances associated with its predecessor. For example, she has more stability in flight thanks to the twin boom structure, she carries an LAU-74/A flare launcher with 60 Mk.24 flares, two Wright R-3350-85 Duplex Cyclone radial engines, two General Electric J85 turbojet pods to allow short field takeoffs-"

"-and a 20mm M61 'Vulcan' gatling gun." Amara smiled proudly, lugging the mighty rotary cannon out of the box.

Denise was astonished, as was everyone else. "I don't believe it… and this is mine to use?" She asked wondrously.

"Yep. She's all yours, gunslinger. Theresa made sure of that." Holly said, firmly gripping Theresa's shoulder.

"Ehehe~" Theresa laughed nervously.

"I can't wait to take her out tomorrow. You've no idea what it means to me, to be able to fly. I was so worried that when I hit the deck, I'd never see the sky again." Denise said, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Thank you so much!" She cried, pulling Holly and Theresa into a hug.

"Easy there Eilers." Holly gasped.

"Can't… breathe…" Theresa managed, as her face began turning blue.

"Oh, sorry." Denise let go of them and scratched her head nervously.

The other girls mounted up on their bomber units, while Denise stayed to admire her new bomber unit. She waved to them, as they waited for the elevator. As the elevator came down from the flight deck, they were met with a very drowsy looking Hailey.

"Oh, hey girls." Hailey mumbled, yawning loudly.

"Hailey, you alright?" Candice asked.

"Just tired… I was up all night making sure you had a clear flight path to the coordinates." Hailey muttered, yawning again. "Oh, that's right… I'd exercise extreme caution. Not only are there severe hostile forces in the region, but I noticed several massive craters just a klick east of where the transport crashed. It was almost like one of those 'daisy cutter' bombs we use to clear landing sites."

"You mean the BLU-82? I know we have a few of those in reserve, but I can't think of any that were deployed recently…" Candice wondered.

"You heard her, girls. I want to hear about it immediately if you spot anything unusual." Holly ordered.

"Hey Hailey," Meryl raised her hand. "Does the hill really look like a hamburger?"

Holly's head drooped as she sighed.

"I mean… Its big and rounded. Definitely more 'hamburger-esque' than the other landscape." Hailey replied hazily. "I'm going to sleep. Night girls."

Hailey docked her RB-58 unit and wandered off to the crew quarters, as the other girls took off from Midway's catapult.

A few hours later, the girls were nearing the A Shau Valley, as they flew over the jungle canopy. As Hailey had mentioned, there were several peculiarly large craters in the middle of their flight path, almost like the main vent of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Continuing westward, they saw a line that had been cut through the trees, ending with a C-130 that had buried itself partially in the earth.

"Hard to imagine anyone could survive that." Shannon said, flying lower. "There's no activity here. Although there are tank tracks that seem to be heading further west."

"I can't imagine them leaving the site… unless they ran into enemy forces." Theresa scratched her head.

"Fan out in groups of two. Find them." Holly ordered. "Jane, you're with me. Shannon and Theresa, you two head north west. Candice and Meryl, you head south. Danielle and Glenda, head for Hamburger Hill and contact the ground forces. Addison, since Denise is out you'll follow me and Jane. Let's find our girls."

The witches split up and searched the thick foliage for any sign of Indigo Platoon. Jane was evidently listening to some sort of acoustic guitar song on her Walkman, as she began using her 20mm autocannon as an air guitar.

"Memphis Belle II to Calamity Jane. Helloooo?" Holly called out.

"Sorry ma'am! I just got a little carried away…" Jane pouted, taking off her headphones.

"Honestly… I never thought I'd be this far out, searching for lost sheep." Holly muttered.

"With all due respect ma'am." Jane began. "I cherish the moments when we're not getting shot at. I know it's our job to drop bombs and gun down enemies, but… I yearn for a world that isn't at war."

"Do you regret signing up for this?" Holly raised an eyebrow.

"No no no, it's not like that. I just look forward to ending this conflict and getting to live in peace. Besides, 'the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing,' as Churchill would say." Jane stammered.

"That's one way to look at it. How's the family, by the way?" Holly continued, changing the subject.

"They're doing alright, I write them in my spare time. I wish I could see them again, but I know that we have a job to do first. And every Teki we shoot down is one step closer to seeing my family." Jane said wistfully.

"I can't sympathize." Holly sighed. "I never knew my father, and I only have faint memories of my mother. I was separated from her at a young age and grew up in a foster home in Memphis. For some reason, nobody wanted to adopt me. I think it had something to do with my unusual personality…" Holly chuckled nervously. "By the time I turned 16, I knew my chances of getting adopted were very slim, if any. So, I started working at a diner to make some money, and I eventually left town to join the air force. When the recruiter saw my flying capabilities, he recommended me to the Bomber Witches program, and I've been here ever since. I wish I could see my mother again… I don't hate her for leaving me, I just want to hug her and tell her how much I love her - even if she wasn't there for me. Because I still learned how to fend for myself, and I guess it was one of her traits." Holly laughed softly. She looked over to see Jane crying and red in the face.

"I'm sure you'll find her one day Major Jones! That's so horrible!" Jane managed between sobs.

"Jane? Jane calm down! God…" Holly muttered, as Jane wiped her eyes.

Suddenly Addison spotted movement on the ground. "Tally Ho, that might be Indigo Platoon."

The trio swooped out of the sky for a closer look, scanning allied radio frequencies just as a very  
angry voice came over the short-range radio. "Attention to aircraft operating near Hill 937, identify yourselves immediately or we _will_ shoot you down!"

"This is Major Holly Jones of the 7th Joint Strike Force, callsign Memphis Belle II." Holly said  
cautiously.

"Senior Airman Jane Nerger of the 7th Joint Strike Force, callsign Calamity Jane." Jane followed.

"Airman First Class Addison Murphy of the 7th Joint Strike Force, callsign Yellow Rose."

"We're Air Force, don't shoot." Holly warned.

"Oh. S'bout time we got some bloody air support." A new, distinctly British voice said.

"So, are you gonna tell us who you are?" Jane asked.

"Sergeant Erica Halonen, 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. Callsign War Machine."

"Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rhodes, 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. Callsign Harbinger."

Then a third voice spoke up. "Corporal Riley Gibb, 1st Armored Division, Indigo Platoon. Callsign Acropolis."

"Is this everyone in your group?" Holly asked.

"Yeah… everyone else either died in the crash or bailed out somewhere in the valley. Pilot's  
confirmed dead, squad leader is dead… We're it." Erica stated. "And here I thought this was just another milk run."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Holly continued.

"I don't really remember much, and it's not like there are windows in a C-130…" Erica admitted.

"Amidst the confusion in the cockpit, the pilot said there was a blinding flash of light, then our plane felt like it was rammed out of the sky…" Elizabeth replied.

"You don't suppose…" Theresa began.

"Could be. I'll contact Midway and see if they can get Hailey back in the air." Holly said worriedly.

"Do you know anything we don't?" Riley asked.

"No, not yet at least. For now, let's get you to the battle." Holly urged.

After a few minutes, the girls managed to navigate Indigo Platoon within a few kilometers of Hill 937. It wasn't easy, since the T95 and Tortoise units didn't fare well in soft mud. Indigo Platoon advanced through the jungle, with its damp ecosystem and chirping insects, as the bomber Witches formed up in the sky. Suddenly, the rumbling tank tracks and aircraft engine noises were interrupted by a new one - a thumping noise followed by pronounced whistling.

"Artillery." Erica groaned, as her heart sank. "INCOMING! Spread out!"

The tank Witches scrambled for cover, as high explosive rounds crashed through the jungle  
canopy, with a blinding flash of light as they kicked up dirt clouds three meters tall.

"Status report! Where is that coming from?" Erica radioed, crouching behind a dirt embankment.

"Standby." Holly paused, scanning the horizon. "It's the Teki bunkers on Hamburger Hill, 2 more klicks ahead of you."

"Intel said their range was much shorter than that!" Erica growled.

"We don't have time to name and blame. 7th JSF will commence close air support bombing to clear your entry point." Holly said, motioning to the girls, as they flew toward the  
bunkers.

"Roger. Indigo Platoon, move out!" Erica rallied.

"Erica, you know I outrank you, right?" Elizabeth retorted.

"Maybe, but I've got all the armor. We can discuss this later, but I need you to stay close behind me. Riley! Standby for artillery support." Erica called out.

"Ro-Ger that." Riley enunciated, burying her stabilization spade into the earth, as she set up the  
howitzer gun.

As the 7th JSF flew toward the hill, a new contact appeared on radar behind them, rapidly closing the distance.

"Contact behind us! It's…!" Candice began.

"This is 'Boiling Point.' You'd better have a good reason for waking me up." Hailey muttered  
groggily.

"Perfect timing Hailey! We need you to be our eyes and ears, please analyze the mission area and designate targets accordingly." Holly instructed.

"Well, since you said 'please'… aye aye Major." Hailey confirmed, continuing to gain altitude at  
astronomical rates.

As Hailey ascended to an altitude of 8 kilometers and deployed her recon equipment, she was absolutely shocked by the imaging. "Jeez. No wonder they were ready to pounce." Hailey groaned.

"Hailey, what do you see?" Holly worried.

"Looks like the unit assaulting the hill was practically wiped out. I'm picking up a lot of infrared  
signatures from burning M48 Patton hulls, possibly a few soldiers taking cover in the brush. But without anti-armor support, they won't last much longer."

"Roger. Please be our eyes, we can't risk losing any more troops, tell us where we need to go. I'm counting on you, Hailey." Holly added.

"I copy, Major." Hailey sighed a little, watching the battle from top down. "Theresa, you'll be opening the attack. There are several lightly armored AA emplacements on the roof of the bunker, I need a strafing run. Glenda, you'll be following Theresa in. Addison, you'll be following Theresa and Glenda. Use your Maverick's to destroy the heavy AA artillery."

"Got it." Theresa confirmed.

"No problem." Glenda smirked.

"On it, hun." Addison grinned.

"Shannon, I need you in an orbit around the infantry's position. Get me a sit rep from the ground  
forces and continue to cover them. Candice, follow Shannon. I need you to use your abilities and deploy a smoke screen if necessary." Hailey ordered.

"Roger." Shannon gave a thumbs up.

"This one's for you, baby!" Candice chimed.

"All other units, standby outside of AA firing range, and be ready to commence bombing run on my signal." Hailey commanded.

"Calamity Jane, Roger." Jane reported.

"Magnesium Cloud, Roger." Meryl acknowledged.

"Spirit of Great Britain, Roger." Danielle confirmed.

"Memphis Belle II, Roger." Holly responded.

Theresa, Glenda, and Addison dove out of the heavens, guns blazing, as they tore up the lightly armored gun pits with their autocannons and machine guns. Addison's bomb bay doors opened, as four Maverick missiles dropped out and flew towards the large caliber AAA guns. One of the Maverick's flew down the barrel of an AA gun, destroying the entire gun breech and sending metal fragments everywhere. The girls turned around for a second run, cleaning up the remaining AA guns on the roof as Glenda dropped a few 500lb bombs on the surviving AA artillery.

As Shannon and Candice arrived over the infantry position, Candice spotted a few of the soldiers and landed near them. She approached one of the motionless soldiers as he lay in  
the brush, and calmly asked, "Which way to the front, soldier?"

The soldier jumped a little, then rolled over to look at her.

"They sent a bunch of girls to save us…?" He inquired, looking up and down at her close-fitted flight suit.

"Save you? We're here to finish what you started." Candice grinned playfully.

"I see. Squad leader is just across the road, the one with the queen of hearts stuck in his helmet."

Candice casually walked over, ignoring the battle raging around her, as she took a knee next to the squad leader. He was trying to crank up a damaged radio, to no avail.

"Hi there." She waved nonchalantly. The burly man turned around and was very surprised to see her.

"So, you're the Bomber Witches?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. I was hoping you could give me a sitrep so we can help you out." She gently fluttered her eyelashes.

"Welp. We started this operation with 8 M48 Patton tanks and 50 men. We're now down to half the manpower, and only one tank which is barely operational. They caught us in a crossfire of portable anti-tank rockets, and artillery fire from the bunkers." He responded gruffly.

"And I assume your communications are down too." Candice noted the damaged radio.

"That would be correct. We were supposed to get support from Indigo Platoon from 1st  
Armored Division, but… I'll be damned if anyone survived that attack." He tipped his head down regretfully.

"Well… hate to burst your bubble, but…" Candice motioned towards the tank witches, who appeared in a clearing just to the east of Hamburger Hill.

"Finally, some good news." He sighed, pulling out a cigarette.

As the tank witches rolled out of the clearing, Erica could clearly see all the burning tanks and bodies lying on the ground.

"What a mess…" Riley frowned.

"They're… they're dead. They're all dead…!" Erica said, as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Erica. There was nothing we could've done." Elizabeth replied.

"But… we were supposed to protect these men… The whole purpose of our mission was to spearhead the attack and get these tanks and infantry over the hill… and we've failed! What  
are we doing here…?!" Erica cried in panic.

Elizabeth grabbed Erica by the shoulders and shook her once or twice. "Erica, listen to me. They signed up for this mission being fully aware of the risks involved. This. Is. War, soldier. We're not gods, and we can't save everyone. All we can do is the best we can, with everything we've got." Elizabeth commanded firmly.

Erica nodded, and wiped her eyes as they advanced toward the remaining infantry.

"Boiling Point to Blue Diamond, what's your status Candice?" Hailey asked.

"Ground communication is down, only one partially operational M48 left, and 25 soldiers on the field." Candice replied promptly.

"…Great." Hailey sighed. "I'm arranging for heliborne reinforcements on the coordinates, in the meantime we're going to blow up the bunker. Get the soldiers and Indigo Platoon to pull back into safe distance." Hailey informed.

"Wilco!" Candice replied, as she relayed to the ground troops and the tank witches.

"Calamity Jane, Magnesium Cloud, Spirit of Great Britain, and Memphis Belle II, weapons free,  
commence bombing run on the enemy bunker. Repeat, weapons free." Hailey ordered.

The four witches confirmed and formed up for a high-speed bombing run. They dove out of the  
muggy Asian sky, engines roaring as the bunker came into view. Holly was in the lead and pulled out her bomb sight, centering the target and preparing her 750lb bombs. The crosshairs lined up, and Holly called 'bombs away', as the explosive munitions were released. The bunker withstood the first volley, then began cracking as Danielle's bombs struck home. By the time Jane and Meryl called 'bombs away,' their payloads penetrated the bunker and destroyed it from  
the inside out. The concrete walls crumbled inwards, as the Teki armor coating also disintegrated to fine powder.

"Memphis Belle II to Boiling Point. Target de-stroyed." Holly stated.

"Excellent work girls, standby until the arrival of the friendly heliborne troops. That should be all of them… wait…" Hailey said, looking at her radar. "Christ. All witches turn north by northeast. The choppers are under attack!"

"They just don't quit…" Meryl muttered.

Holly, Candice, Glenda, Addison and Danielle rushed toward the choppers on full throttle, while Theresa, Meryl, Shannon and Jane tried to keep up with them. The Teki were swarming around an aerial convoy of UH-1D Huey 'Delta's' and CH-47 'Chinook's, who were trying to defend themselves with the 7.62mm twin M60 door gunners, and .50 caliber window gunners.

Holly flew right into the swarm, her M60D chattering as it spit out 7,62mm armor piercing bullets at 500 rounds per minute. The lead Teki was stunned by the attack, as Candice followed in with her 30mm ADEN autocannon. The fighter was shredded to pieces, as the other fighter broke off from the helicopters and engaged the bomber witches. Holly soon found a Teki fighter on her tail, as she pulled up vertical. The enemy fighter fired, missed, and then stalled out and fell back towards earth, as Holly also nosed over into a hammerhead turn. Now on the tail of the enemy, Holly fired a burst of 7.62, only to watch as the Teki angled, and the bullets sparkled as they grazed its raven wings. Glenda zoomed in with her .50 caliber, which perforated the enemy fighter and set it on fire with the armor piercing incendiary rounds.

"Need some help?" Glenda smirked.

"That's great kid, don't get cocky." Holly rolled her eyes. "I would've had him if it were a better angle."

Danielle roared past them in her Vulcan bomber unit, pulling out her Bren LMG and loading a 100-round pan magazine on top of the gun. The pan rotated curiously, as 7,62mm rounds spewed out of the long barrel. She managed to shoot down two of the fighters, just as Addison followed up with her 20mm Oerlikon and shot down another pair.

"Thanks, Addy." Danielle smiled.

"Anytime." Addison smiled back.

The remaining fighters saw Theresa, Meryl, Shannon, and Jane rapidly approaching, and rightfully decided to retreat under the circumstances. The foul creatures fled from whence they came, disappearing over the horizon.

"Yeah, you'd better run!" Shannon shook her fist menacingly.

"Qué montón de cobardes!" Theresa scowled, as she pulled up with the rest of the group.

The witches escorted the helicopters to Hamburger Hill, where they loaded up the last remaining soldiers. They offered the tank witches a ride back to base, when they refused.

"Just give us a route and some working equipment, we'll keep pushing 'til we reach Hanoi." Erica smiled.

The CH-47 pilot shrugged, as they unloaded some spare tools and rations, before heading to A Luoi airfield. The bomber witches returned to the Midway, where they saw Denise flying in pattern around the carrier.

"Denise? You're flying!" Theresa squealed.

"Yeah, I wanted to come and help you guys asap, but Kurosawa would've court martialed me on sight." Denise giggled nervously. "This unit is fantastic, I've never felt so much power…!"

"I'm sure we'll need all the help we can get in the days to come." Holly smiled. "Let's hit the chow hall and get a good night's rest."

"Can't argue there. I could really go for a hamburger…" Meryl groaned.

"…Yknow, so could I." Holly agreed.

Everyone laughed, as they landed on the USS Midway.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Making Lemonade**

After a long day and the events of Hamburger Hill, Holly wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. She lay down in the 2nd level of bunk beds in Midway's crew quarters, pulled the curtain closed, and shut her eyes. A few moments later, she heard a voice calling to her.

"Holly… baby, wake up." The soft voice spoke out.

"Huh? Who's there?" Holly asked groggily.

"Honey wake up, it's time for school." The voice beckoned.

"Who are you?" Holly demanded.

"Don't you recognize mama's voice?" The voice responded hurtfully.

"…Mom? Where are you?" Holly asked, bewildered.

"I'm right here." Her mother responded.

Holly could barely make out the motherly figure, her vision was still very hazy from fatigue. She was sitting up in a soft bed with clean linen sheets, as the sun rays danced through the now open window. Her mother sat down on the bed next to her, and Holly felt the bed sink a little bit. Holly couldn't rub the sleep out of her eyes, and could only determine her mother's figure, dressed in a light-blue summer dress. Her eyes traced upward, past her mother's voluminous bosom, to a head of bright, flowing hair that almost seemed like it was on fire.

"Mom? Why did you leave me…? I want to know." Holly pleaded.

"Honey, wake up…" Her mother's voice said, growing more distant.

"Mom? Mom!" Holly shouted, rolling out of bed and hitting the floor.

When Holly opened her eyes again, she was in Midway's crew quarters, looking up at a hole in the ceiling. The deck above her was on fire, the result of an armor piercing bomb whose fragments lay on the floor around her. Her ears rang with the sound of a fire alarm, as smoke lingered in the air.

"Holly! Holly please wake up!" Theresa shouted, running around the corner with a fire extinguisher. The red bottle emitted a cloud of foam which suffocated the fire, as Theresa turned to the brown-haired belle. "Get up, Major! We're under attack!"

Holly, still confused, nodded and ran for the hangar deck as Theresa followed her up the stairs. Warning alarms were blaring, as other crew members ran to their battle stations.

"Same dream again? About your mother?" Theresa asked.

"Same one…" Holly sighed. "I just can't get it out of my head."

"This is Captain Kurosawa, all hands man your battle stations! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!" Kurosawa boomed over the PA system.

Holly and Theresa ran down the corridors, watching hundreds of other sailors ducking in and out of ship bulkheads, some heading for the engine decks while some were headed to the anti-aircraft guns. They soon spotted other bomber witches ahead of them, running for the hangar deck with all their might.

When they reached the hangar, the massive shutters were open as the F-4 Phantoms were wheeled onto the elevators. The witches ran to their bomber racks, and Holly turned just in time to see Denise trying to grab her new AC-119 unit.

"Eilers, you are still under medical orders not to participate in combat!" Holly fumed.

"I can do this, just trust me!" Denise pleaded.

"Denise." Holly grabbed her by the shoulders. "Please. Stay. Here. This is an order."

Denise conceded, her head drooping as the other girls geared up and headed for the elevator. Shannon noticed the verbal exchange and came over to console Denise.

"Don't take it personally. She's just interested in your safety." Shannon encouraged, patting Denise on the shoulder.

"I know, I just wanted to get back in the air. …But it can wait. Go get 'em Fairchild." Denise smiled proudly.

The witches were elevated to the flight deck via the forward portside lift, just in time to hear the 'brrrrrrt' sound of Midway's M167 Vulcan Air Defense System as a nearby Teki fighter went down in flames and crashed into the sea. Midway's 5-inch/54 caliber guns roared, as the radar fire control directed their flak against incoming Teki aircraft. The M167 VADS system on Midway was not indigenous considering they were army assets and had been hastily bolted in to the ship's gun tubs during the 1957 refit. There were four, one at each corner of the ship, complemented by the Talos missile launchers and the original 5-inch/54 caliber dual purpose guns. A Mark 7 Talos surface to air missile whizzed over the witch's heads, taking down a Teki bomber at long range.

"This is the tower. All witches hear this! The Teki have sprung a night attack on us, using terrain masking tactics to evade our radar. Launch immediately and take out those enemy bombers before they can get near us! Your IFF will be updated in flight!" The controller said.

"Where did they all come from…?" Glenda scowled.

"Never mind that! Get to the catapult and launch!" Holly commanded.

The barriers were raised, as Holly and Candice both launched from the forward catapults. The remaining witches were also launched in pairs, as they soared into the murky sky. Muzzle flashes from Alabama's dual-purpose artillery illuminated the sky, joined by tracers from Midway and the escorting ships. A surface to air missile from USS Long Beach flew past, heading towards a flock of enemy bomber craft on the horizon. The missile exploded, taking out one of the lead bombers, but they continued to charge towards Combined Task Force 77. These Teki were about the size of a twin-engined fighter-bomber, as yellow lightning marks streaked across their charcoal black airframes. Each one was equipped with an anti-ship warhead, capable of paralyzing a capital ship or outright sinking a destroyer escort in one hit.

The fleet itself was caught out of position – the support ships had returned from the Philippines islands, and were all lined up on the far-right flank of CTF 77. The three carriers were in the mid-left of the formation, with most of the cruisers on their starboard flank and the Alaska sisters up front, while the battleships and destroyers were just off their bow. The only cruiser to their immediate port side defense was the Canberra, which made her the proverbial lynchpin to their protection. The 'Can-Do Kangaroo' had her work cut out for her, even with the twin-rail Terrier SAM launchers and her rapid-firing 3-inch AA mounts.

A formation of the Teki bombers closed in from the north, while their fighter escorts engaged the F-4 Phantoms. Jane took point on the attack, using her shield to block incoming fire as she readied an AGM-28 'Hound Dog.'

"This is 'Calamity Jane,' I've set my hound dog to proximity fuse detonation, conventional HE warhead. I'll blow a hole in their formation; any cleanup help would be greatly appreciated. Firing point procedure, weapon AGM-28, bearing one zero five degrees, altitude 0.61 kilometers, range 6.4 kilometers, missile away." Jane declared, as the missile ignited and sped towards the Teki.

Moments later, the hound dog contacted the lead enemy formation, destroying the lead bomber and setting the two adjacent bombers on fire.

"Yes! Direct hit!" Jane exclaimed, as the now blazing enemies crashed into the sea.

Candice then swooped in behind an enemy bomber, unleashing a gun barrage with her 30mm ADEN autocannon. Meryl went head-on with the fifth Teki bomber, piercing its nose with her 20mm M24A1 autocannon. A new formation of seven appeared behind the remains of the first five, as Shannon moved in for a strafing barrage. Her XM-197 minigun buzzed, as she cut down three more bombers. Kurosawa contacted them, just as Glenda slotted in to take out another two bombers.

"Attention all Bomber Witches! New enemy formation sighted to the north, same attack vector! Contact does not match anything on our records, but it is of massive volume… Destroy it before they can disrupt our fleet operations." Kurosawa commanded.

"I copy, Captain Kurosawa." Holly said, rallying the other girls as she finished off the last two bombers. "Alright girls, I don't know what this is, but we've got to defend the fleet."

"Copy, major!" The girls responded.

"This is 'Boiling Point,' I'm analyzing the target now." Hailey said, as she ascended to observation altitude. "Contact, bearing one five zero degrees, altitude 0.70 km, range 7 km. Recommend turning on searchlights."

The dark object loomed on the horizon, an ominous presence in the murky night sky. Alabama's powerful searchlights struck its alien 'skin' with light, revealing something akin to a monstrous zeppelin.

"What in John Paul Jones…" Kurosawa scowled. "Teki, front! Super-heavy type! Midway to Alabama and New Jersey, load main guns: Mark 8 Super Heavy shell, and prepare for heavy anti-air assault!"

"What is she doing now…?" Shannon scoffed.

"I think I know, but we should get out of the way. All witches break formation and spread out!" Holly demanded.

Just then, Kurosawa gave the order to fire, as twelve 16-inch rounds from the battleships streaked through the sky at 760 meters a second. The heavy-weight rounds had as much striking power as an 18.1-inch shell, while being lighter, as they penetrated the enemy airship and detonated inside. The airship bulged, as it exploded violently like a supernova in the Asian twilight. However, some of the fragments started moving, as the Teki bombers managed to escape their mothership.

"Wake me up…" Meryl frowned, as the new wave of thirty descended upon the task force.

Danielle managed to splash two more with her custom Bren machine gun, and Theresa scored five more with her Hispano as she chased them towards the fleet. Midway's F-4 Phantoms managed to claim two more kills, and Theresa was about to initiate her special attack, just as a Talos missile from USS Galveston ripped right past her and hit another enemy bomber.

"Hey, watch it! I'm on your side!" Theresa shouted, to no avail as USS Hoel also fired a RIM-66 Tartar missile in her direction. She could hear the warning tone as the missile mistakenly locked on to her instead of the Teki she was chasing.

"Theresa, get out of there!" Holly demanded.

"USS Hoel, disengage! You're firing on allied witches!" Kurosawa roared.

Right before the missile could impact, Theresa opened her dive brakes and engaged her shields, praying with all her might. The RIM-66 lost track of her heat signature and reacquired a Teki adjacent to her, destroying it.

"Susmaryosep…" Theresa cried, disengaging her dive brakes and leveling out.

Midway, Saratoga, and Intrepid managed to gun down ten more bombers, while the combined firepower of Canberra and Newport News took out six more targets. Long Beach attempted to engage but did not have enough time to lock on as they closed in on her. One of the three remaining bombers crashed just one meter off her port bow, while another impacted her on the bow and plunged through the deck plating, destroying her forward SAM launchers. The third bomber struck at midships, just aft of the C1W Westinghouse nuclear reactor. The dreadful blare of Long Beach's alarm sent shock and horror into everyone's head as flames billowed from the nuclear-powered cruiser.

"Midway to Long Beach! Shut down the reactor! NOW!" Kurosawa instructed, as the damage control teams scrambled to react.

"This is Long Beach! Attempting to shut down the reactor now and engage safety countermeasures! We're dead in the water, but please keep your distance! Opening flood valves!" The captain responded, as they proceeded to flood the reactor room.

"Roger… All witches, enemy destroyed. Return to ship…" Kurosawa announced.

Holly flew over to Theresa, firmly grasping her shoulders.

"Theresa, are you alright?" Holly worried.

Theresa made no response, as she continued sobbing.

"Bolstead. Look at me! Are you alright?" Holly reiterated.

"That could've been me…" Theresa wailed, hugging Holly and crying even harder.

Holly gently shushed the skyraider. "I think we've all had a rough night. Let's get you on the deck."

The other girls looked on anxiously, even Denise, who had climbed upstairs to the Midway's deck. Holly helped Theresa land, and they were followed by the other girls. Denise came over to console Theresa, as they docked their units and headed downstairs. The girls tried to go back to bed, but Theresa couldn't sleep as she continued replaying the events in her head. As the sniffling continued, she felt a gentle nudge as Holly appeared with a mug of hot cocoa.

"Hey Terry." Holly smiled worriedly. "I thought you might want a hot drink to help you calm down."

"Thank you major…" Theresa perked up, stepping out of her bunk space to stand in the corridor with Holly. She took a hearty sip of the hot chocolate and smiled gratefully as it warmed her up. "My abuela used to make hot chocolate for me when I was young, very similar to this. Although missing the cinnamon spice – this is almost like a taste of home."

"I'm glad. Hey, listen – what happened out there was not your fault. These surface to air missile systems are still… finnicky. The fire control crew on USS Hoel didn't even know that the missile had lost its initial target, so they were just as surprised. Kurosawa gave them a tough time about it, as usual…" Holly giggled.

"It's just… Up until now I've always been so sure of myself in combat." Theresa interjected. "We had claimed victory after victory, and this was the first time I've looked death in the eye and felt afraid." She shivered, downing the rest of the hot chocolate.

"I get that – we come out of training feeling like we own the world, and nothing can stop us… then at some point on the battlefield we realize how vulnerable we truly are." Holly sighed.

"But, that's what friends are for right?" Theresa brightened up, setting the empty mug down. "Ever since I started training with you and Denise, I've felt stronger than I ever did alone. We were like… the Three Musketeers!" She giggled.

"'One for all and all for one,' huh?" Holly smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, some of us are trying to get some beauty sleep!" Shannon whispered angrily from her bunk.

Holly and Theresa both smiled at each other, still quite giggly, as they crawled into their bunks and drifted asleep.

The next morning…

The girls woke up having very little, if any, sleep and managed to get through breakfast. By the time they reached the bridge, they nearly tripped over each other as they attempted to shake off the drowsiness. Kurosawa walked into the war room to see Meryl, Danielle, and Glenda sleeping peacefully with their heads resting on the table.

"ATTEN-SHUN!" She roared.

The sleepy bomber witches straightened up in a hurry, attempting to keep energy flowing.

"Goodness gracious…" Aiko shook her head. "I can't have you girls flying out there like that, you'll be more of a danger to yourselves than the enemy. That attack last night… That wasn't like the Teki. They're certainly growing bolder, and while we do need to strike back I just cannot send you out there right now. You're not combat capable."

Just then, Denise hopped happily up the stairs, her arm unbandaged and swinging about freely.

"Oh my… Did any of you get to sleep?" Denise asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"2nd Lt. Eilers, did you sleep through the entire attack last night?" Aiko tilted her head inquisitively.

"No, but considering I didn't actually fly last night…" Denise answered, glancing at Holly.

"I might've guessed. But your medical documents indicate you're ok to fly starting today, as long as you take it easy." Aiko informed. "That said, I suppose I should let you girls relax the rest of the day. It's probably for the better that you recuperate. In the meantime, we can get repairs underway for USS Long Beach."

"Awesome!" Denise squealed. "In the meantime, we ought to commence Operation Picnic!"

"Operation… what?" Aiko echoed.

"Operation Picnic?!" Danielle perked up, her eyes shining with glee. "There is no bomber witch that can resist the highest form of luncheon!"

"...oh." Aiko realized, seeming disappointed. "As long as it's ok with the head chef, you can use their facilities."

"You can join us if you would like, Captain." Holly suggested.

"I appreciate that, but there's no one to relieve me. I am the relief, as it were." Aiko responded.

"We'll think of something." Holly smiled hopefully.

"I'm sure you will - you're a very creative bunch." Aiko said, cracking the merest fraction of a smile. "Oh, I've also received word your instructor is paying us a visit. Said something about getting a report for SAC and 'checking up' on her girls."

"Instructor Morgan? Here?" Denise wondered.

"As long as command approved it, makes no difference to me. I've got a lengthy battle report for Pearl Harbor's HQ, and she's most likely going to pick up some documents for Strategic Air Command."

"Roger that." Denise saluted, as they exited.

The girls filed out and headed below deck to the ship's kitchen. It was a massive room connected to the mess hall. Even then, the space felt cramped with all the industrial grade refrigerators and equipment. The girls ran up to the front counter, where Head Chef Terry Saxon was inspecting the heated display of soups and breads. He looked up at them, as they began explaining the plan.

"Operation what…?" He echoed.

"Picnic!" Denise exclaimed.

"With your permission Head Chef Saxon," Holly began. "We'd like to put together a basic picnic for our group. We just need materials for some sandwiches, chips, cookies, maybe some lemonade."

"Cookies?" Glenda perked up. "Nobody said anything about cookies!"

"Hold on now, do you have permission for any of this?" Saxon asked.

"Captain Kurosawa told us to ask you." Holly replied.

"...One moment." Saxon said, as he turned to consult the sous chef. He came back a minute later with a smile on his face. "Well, good news ladies. Smoked ham and Swiss sandwiches happen to be on the menu today, so we can give you a couple. We also made a fresh batch of Idaho potato chips, and we can bake some hot cookies. Unfortunately, you may have to squeeze the lemons if you want lemonade."

"We can do that!" Holly grinned.

"Hold on now, this is a navy kitchen. We cook for 4,104 officers and men a day and if you're coming in here, you'd better have an apron, a hairnet, and gloves." Saxon ordered.

The girls each picked up an apron, a white mesh hairnet, and latex food-prep gloves as they entered the steaming and bustling kitchen room. Navy staff were at each station, chopping vegetables and stirring pots, while others washed dishes in boiling hot water. Saxon led the girls to an available kitchen space, where there was a metal bin full of lemons, a lever press juicer, and a 5-gallon insulated drink cooler with a spout. A few pounds of sugar were under the counter, and the sink was not far away.

"Do you girls have a recipe?" Saxon asked.

"Ummmmmm…" Denise fidgeted nervously.

"I'll take that as a no. Don't worry, everyone in this kitchen started out like this – even me. Except it used to be peeling potatoes instead of juicing lemons…" Saxon chuckled. "You're going to need about four quarts worth of lemon juice, four quarts worth of dissolved sugar water, and fill the remaining four gallons or so with filtered tap water. We have a water purification plant on the ship, so there's plenty."

"Four, four, and four. Got it." Theresa smiled.

"These lemons are much bigger than the ones in England…" Danielle wondered, picking up a large, ripened lemon.

"These are Californian lemons, quite possible the cream of the crop. We get a shipment of these now and then, and I'm glad you girls are putting them to use. We can't be wasting good food on a ship." Saxon noted. "Now I'm going to return to my duties. If you absolutely need help, find the sous chef, Linda Kowalszki."

"Thank you, Chef Saxon!" The girls cheered as he returned to the soup display.

"Now, I guess you put the lemon… here?" Denise said, placing the oblong fruit in the juicer.

"Denise, stop! You have to cut it in half first!" Addison laughed.

"…I knew that." The gunship witch blushed, removing the lemon and handing it to the Texan.

"Back in father's estate, our chefs knew how to make the best grilled tilapia with lemons zest." Shannon said dreamily, inhaling the lemony scent.

"Shannon, you're going to help too. We're all doing some work today." Holly reprimanded.

"…of course! I knew that." Shannon said nervously as she hopped over to the counter.

"Hold on now, let's get a bit of organization going here." Holly interjected. "Denise, Addison, and Glenda can cut the lemons into halves. Meryl, you're in charge of the lever press and juicing them into the measured basin. Theresa, you'll make sure the juice is measured, and set it aside for the final mixing. Hailey, you're in charge of boiling up the water and making sure the sugar is properly dissolved."

"Why, cause my callsign is 'boiling point'?" Hailey frowned disapprovingly.

The girls were silent for a moment.

"…I'm just kidding major." Hailey smiled. "Learn to laugh once in a while."

"I didn't even think about it like that, but… anyways." Holly continued, giggling a little. "Danielle and Shannon will fill the cooler with water and ice – not more than four gallons. Candice and Jane…"

"Looking out of my lonely room, day after day…" Jane sang, swaying her head back and forth.

Holly stopped, noticing that Jane had her headphones in again while Candice was happily exploring the kitchen. "Well, I guess you two can taste test or something…"

"Hey, don't squeeze so hard Meryl! You're getting lemon juice everywhere!" Shannon complained.

"Oh, my bad. I don't really do delicate jobs, but I have the strength for a machine press." Meryl chuckled.

Hailey began bringing four quarts to a boil, as she started mixing in the sugar. Unfortunately, she poured too fast and there was a white cloud of sugar all around her. "Help! I can't see!" Hailey coughed.

Holly came over and turned on the exhaust fan above the stove, as the sugar cloud was sucked through the vent. "Hailey, slow down a bit huh?" Holly patted her on the shoulder.

"Thanks major, I'm good now." Hailey wiped her eyes with a kerchief and resumed stirring the mixture.

"Shannon don't just throw the ice! You're getting water all over me!" Danielle fumed, as Shannon plopped a chunk of ice into the cooler.

"I just… set it down…" Shannon replied with a puzzled expression.

"No, set it in gently. Like you're setting an egg down." Danielle ordered.

"Sorry I'm not good at this kitchen thing…" Shannon admitted.

"There's no time like the present to learn." Danielle brightened up.

"Ow!" Glenda exclaimed, as she accidentally cut her finger with the knife. "Stupid thing…"

"Glenda, go get a band-aid." Addison said. "If you get lemon juice in that wound you'll be sorry…"

"Not my fault it tried to roll away as I was cutting." Glenda pouted.

"Put one hand on the lemon, and the other on the knife, then slice down the middle at an angle. It's easy, I'll show you." Denise smiled.

Holly observed all these things, being very proud of her girls. Just then Candice walked up to her, happily munching on a cookie. "Whatcha doing major?" Candice asked.

"I should be asking you the same thing. If Saxon notices you are stealing cookies you'll end up in the brig, with all the other bad apples. No matter how cute you might be." Holly challenged.

Candice turned pale, quickly finishing the cookie. "It was a broken one, I swear! He won't miss it… right?"

Holly just laughed, as Sous Chef Kowalszki came up to them.

"We could use some hands with the sandwiches, if you don't mind." Linda smiled hopefully.

"Absolutely ma'am." Holly replied, getting Jane's attention and helping Candice brush the crumbs off her apron.

After a few hours of squeezing lemons and stacking ham on swiss sandwiches, the girls finally had a meal fit for the Round Table. A C-2 Greyhound was landing on Midway's deck, just as the 7th JSF was carrying their picnic lunch up to the conference room attached to the war room. They had set up a red and white gingham checked tablecloth to cover the round table, as the plates and silverware were passed around. Denise left the room momentarily, and soon returned pulling Kurosawa by the hand to join them. Before the captain could protest, a red-haired instructor peered into the room – looking for Kurosawa.

"Captain, I still need to go over the -" Roberta stopped, holding several manila folders as she adjusted her glasses. The girls looked at her curiously, as their instructor smiled back. "My my, what's all this?" She looked around the room.

As Roberta walked over, her hair tie snagged on a low-hanging pipe. The instructor was surprised, as she attempted to pull free, and the tie was yanked out of her hair. The once-bound hair spilled down and over her shoulders, lusciously red and silky. Everyone's jaw dropped, having never seen Roberta with her hair down – she looked like a completely different person.

Suddenly, Holly stood up. "Wait… you look just like the woman in my dreams – are you…" Her voice trembled.

Roberta's eyes widened, as she ran out of the room and up the stairwell with tears in her eyes.

"Wait!" Holly shouted, running after her towards the observation deck. Holly ran as fast as her legs could carry her, pushing past everyone else on the steep staircase. Finally, she barreled through a doorway at the top flight, seeing her instructor standing at the far end of the observation deck.

Roberta held her hands over her heart in fear, her pupils dilated as the wind blew through her long red hair. "Stop! You're scaring me, Major Jones…" She whimpered. "Whatever it is you think I am, you're wrong."

"Instructor Morgan, do you recall ever having a child?" Holly asked.

"…what?" Roberta asked, taken aback. "A child? Me?"

"Answer me!" Holly escalated.

Roberta withdrew further, her back now against the observation wall. "Alright, alright! Yes, I had a daughter – when I was much younger. What is it to you?"

"Do you remember what happened to her?" Holly pressed further, closing distance.

"I… I couldn't take care of her. I wasn't ready to be a mother, so I put her up for adoption. I don't know anything more than that, I swear!" Roberta cried.

Just then, something seemed to click between them. The only audible sound atop the carrier's island was the whistling wind, as Holly silently mouthed a single word. _"Mom…?"_


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Dragon's Jaw**

The wind blew precariously, flowing through Roberta's red hair and chilling her to the bone. She stood up a little straighter, and cautiously walked towards Holly. The once frightened eyebrows relaxed, as tears trickled from her emerald green eyes. "Holly… Baby, I can't believe it's you…"

"Hi mom, it's nice to finally meet you." Holly trembled, brushing away tears.

Roberta attempted to move in for a hug, then stopped herself. "I can't imagine what you've been through. I don't deserve to hug you, after everything I subjected you to…"

Holly smiled. "I'm not mad at you. All this time, I just wanted to know my mother, and tell her that I love her. Maybe you were scared and couldn't be there for me, but it ultimately shaped who I am now. Because of you, I learned how to fend for myself. Because of you, I became bolder and joined the Air Force. Because of you, I am part of something bigger than I could ever imagine. And because of you, I have found my family…"

Roberta took a step back. "Does that mean, you don't need me now?"

"Well… I've already grown up. I'm practically an adult and surely there's no need to burden your household." Holly admitted.

"I'm sorry, that was selfish of me to say." Roberta hung her head. "Not a day has gone by that I don't regret giving you up. Your father and I met at Barksdale shortly after the Pacific War and fell in love. We lived together for a few years and even got engaged. He was an Air Force transport captain, but he passed away when his plane was caught in an electrical storm southwest of Baton Rouge and crashed… I was scared, I wasn't ready to take care of a child on my own. When I put you up for adoption, they were legally bound and couldn't tell me where you were or what had happened to you. All this time… I had hoped that we would meet again, and I could raise you properly as my daughter. Except… you're already an adult now, you have your own life, and there's nothing I can give that would benefit you."

"It's not like we have to be separate though. I can still visit you and we can catch up over dinner or something. It might be weird, but… we're not the most normal daughter and mother you know." Holly giggled.

Roberta's eyes lit up. "Don't tell me you also have the gift…?"

"Hm?" Holly's eyes widened.

"Oh… nothing." Roberta laughed nervously. "I would like to spend time with you though. We've got a lot of catching up to do…"

Suddenly, Roberta noticed Denise poking her curious head through the doorway.

"Hi Denise, we were just-" Roberta began.

"...I KNEW IT!" Denise exclaimed. "I always knew there was something weird about you two. The face, the hairstyle, the dress - at least in the instructor's old photos - and, and the call sign."

Holly and Roberta looked at each other curiously.

"She's a damn sight smarter than we are." Holly grinned foolishly.

"Like mother, like daughter huh?" Roberta smiled back.

The two hugged each other, as Denise cheered for them. "Oh by the way." Denise interjected. "The Captain has scheduled an informal briefing this evening for tomorrow's big mission."

"What mission?" Roberta and Holly echoed in unison.

"Something about a dragon… and a bridge. I stopped paying attention when the cookies came out." Denise smiled nervously.

Later, in the war room…

Kurosawa leaned over the end of a map table, as one of the assistants brought her a hot cup of coffee. There were multiple flags around a pin which stuck proudly out of the Nam Ma river.

"Nineteen degrees, fifty minutes, seventeen seconds north by one oh five degrees, forty-seven minutes, thirty-nine seconds east." Kurosawa said flatly.

"Thanh Hoa bridge." Theresa straightened up. "The Dragon's Jaw."

"You're familiar with it?" Aiko raised an eyebrow, sipping her coffee.

"I had a friend in 'Sandy' flight, A-1H pilot Waltrud Draeger. She was listed as MIA during one of her support missions." Theresa admitted.

"Then for those of you who don't know, this bridge is a linchpin for the northbound ground forces." Aiko frowned. "It's the fastest route up to Hanoi, and there's a radar site there which needs to be destroyed to allow safe passage through Teki airspace. However, the bridge is heavily defended by five Teki heavy AAA squadrons, and at least two armored brigades. They're well dug in, and we can't get an accurate fix on the AAA units. We've already lost two RF-101 'Voodoo' recon planes just finding out this much. That said, we're going to try and work smarter, not harder. SAC is detaching an EC-121 Warning Star witch from her orbit patrol duties, so she can provide real-time battle assessment and attack directions as necessary. You'll be meeting Lt. Olivia Sears en route to Thanh Hoa tomorrow, and she'll provide an in-flight briefing with your designated targets. Any questions?"

"What's our force strength?" Hailey asked.

"There will be three waves of attack craft besides you. Twelve F-4 Phantoms from 8th TFW from the Thailand base, eight of which carry our new AGM-62 'Walleye' laser guided bombs. Another four A-7 Corsairs from USS America will be carrying a mix of Walleye's and Mk.84 unguided munitions. If the enemy is still standing, a third wave of ten F-105D's from Phu Cat Air Base will approach from the south equipped with sixteen 750lb bombs per plane and they'll attempt a high-speed pass to clean things up."

"Estimated losses?" Hailey pressed worriedly.

"To date, 104 American pilots have been shot down within a 75 square mile area of this bridge." Aiko stated, as she grimly locked eyes with Hailey. "I can't give you an estimate, but if the AAA are knocked out and the Walleye's work properly, we can open up a path for the ground forces and cut losses dramatically." She stood up straighter. "I never thought I'd say this, but everything is riding on you girls for this mission. Our fighters aren't agile enough to neutralize the threat, but you girls can. If you do get in trouble, there's another squadron of F-4C Phantoms on standby at USS America to support you. You probably won't need them – I know we got off to a bad start, but I've come to believe in you all, and I think you're up to the task."

The girls beamed proudly, even Roberta who was watching from the sidelines.

"Thank you, Captain Kurosawa. You're not so bad yourself." Hailey replied. "Captain Chambers would be proud of you."

Aiko frowned, tipping her head down and away as she remembered him. "Yes, well. I appreciate that. You girls get some sleep, it's a big day tomorrow."

The next morning, the 7th JSF prepared to launch from Midway's deck in full force. Denise eagerly ran to the elevator with her gear, ready to combat prove the new AC-119 units. Instructor Roberta had left that morning on the C-2 Greyhound, returning the combat reports to SAC's HQ in Nebraska. Even so, Holly felt as if that rediscovered part of her life was gone once more, as she tried to regain a mission mindset.

"Ok everyone." She hollered over the commotion as the elevator arrived at the flight deck. "This'll be our first time working with a dedicated AWACS. Lt. Sears is our eye in the sky and will assign you each to a target. I know you're used to working together, but SAC wants to prove whether this is a valid tactic. If for any reason you lose the comm link to Sears, you will have to engage at your own discretion. Be on the lookout for the EC-121D Warning Star witch, we should arrive in her airspace halfway to the target."

The girls saluted in unison and verbally affirmed her orders, as they each proceeded to launch positions and were catapulted into the skies. Kurosawa watched them until they were out of visible range, before descending to the medical bay to check on Chambers.

Meanwhile, about 7 kilometers above Vinh City, a somewhat chubby young girl with curly autumn brown hair rumbled northbound through the sky with her Wright R-3350-34 Turbo Compound radial engines. Her AWACS unit was rather odd, having three vertical tailfins, a thin and elongated fuselage, and wingtip external fuel tanks with lightning arresters on the ends. The most peculiar thing about her unit was the dorsal AN/APS-103 height finder radar dome placed vertically on top and the ventral AN/APS-95 air search radar dome placed horizontally under her. These radomes allowed her to detect aerial contacts beneath or above her, and accurately locate their approximate location, speed, and heading. The radar incited a blip in her headphones, as the jade green-eyed girl straightened her light brown flight jacket which fit snugly over her sky-blue uniform and navy-blue leggings. She also sported small dark fluffy ears, and a short dark feathered tail, reminiscent of a Coastal Great Horned Owl.

"Attention, new radar contacts party of ten, this is AWACS callsign 'Triple Nickel,' you have entered my airspace. State your unit and callsign." Her sweet voice glided along the airwaves.

"This is the 7th JSF off USS Midway, Major Holly Jones callsign 'Memphis Belle II' reporting." Holly answered.

"Good to hear friendly voices. I don't socialize much when out on patrol, but I look forward to working with you." Olivia replied. "I'm Lt. Olivia Sears, but you can call me 'Livy.' Considering RF-101C 'Voodoo' losses in this area, command obliged us with U-2 Dragonlady recon witch intel this morning, courtesy of Captain Francine Powers. I have the combat report with me, and my radar display has been updated accordingly. For the record, this operation will be classified as 'Operation Jupiter.' So far, we have ascertained the five heavy AAA squadrons hiding in the jungle. Envision a 75 square mile box around the Thanh Hoa bridge, and at each of the four corners there is one AAA squadron, with the fifth one directly guarding the bridge, the armored units, and the radar site. Each AAA squadron also has their own short-range radar to assist the gun laying of their heavy AAA artillery. To ensure the maximum benefit of your attacks, we will need to have two witches attacking each squadron at the same time. The central radar station has trouble tracking targets at low altitude, but the short-range radars will spot you regardless. The plan of attack calls for each of the four outer AAA installations to be destroyed simultaneously, and for the fifth one to be destroyed within 60 seconds of those strikes. If the fifth station is not destroyed within that window, they will have enough time to call for fighter support which will endanger the strike mission. It is therefore imperative that you carry this mission out with precision and proper timing. Understood?"

"Squadron acknowledges Triple Nickel. Shall we begin?" Holly inquired.

"Confirm, begin Operation Jupiter." Olivia affirmed.

"Airman Hailey Confer, callsign 'Boiling Point' here. Quick question if I may, Triple Nickel." Hailey interrupted.

"Roger, go ahead." Olivia replied, quite intrigued.

"I'm sure you know what we're all equipped with, but what do you have if the situation should arise?" Hailey asked curiously, as Holly cast a displeased look at her.

"Well… IF for any reason I should need to defend myself, I do have my special T20E2HB Garand with a 20 round BAR style box magazine plus a modified heavy barrel, and an M9 Beretta for self-defense." Olivia admitted. "As for special abilities, I can utilize a skill called 'Antemortem,' which is Latin for 'Before Death.' It entails the reduction of aerodynamic disturbances along my unit, body and propulsion, which results in silent movement – typically useful for sneaking up on an enemy. I also have a 22mm M7 grenade launcher attachment for my Garand which can fire anti-armor, smoke, and even chaff grenades. One last thing to note, I can transmit approach vectors to your HUD or radar display if you need assistance on an attack run."

"Now that your question is answered Confer, let's focus on the mission then." Holly closed the conversation. "Danielle and Jane will take the northwest battery, Denise and Shannon will take the northeast battery, Glenda and Theresa will take the southwest battery, Meryl and Candice will take the southeast battery. Addison and I will take the central battery and the radar station. If there are no complaints…" Holly lingered, looking around. "Battle stations."

The girls sighed, and grudgingly split up to attack their targets after synchronizing their watches. Danielle and Jane skimmed the edge of the radar network to arrive at the northwest attack zone, while Denise and Shannon proceeded to the northeast battery. Glenda and Theresa delayed their approach to the southwest target, while Meryl and Candice flew to the southeast battery. Holly prepared for a low altitude run straight up the middle and checked her watch.

"We'll only have one chance to get this right. Are you all ready?" Olivia asked, orbiting the battlefield.

"Roger that, we are go for Operation Jupiter." Holly confirmed.

As the predetermined time approached, the girls began their coordinated attack on the enemy AAA sites. The Teki gunners seemed surprised when the ground erupted from aerial bombs going off and had very little time to react. Denise and Shannon produced an unending stream of bullets that sliced right through their targets like a laser, while the other witches pounded the ground with ordnance. Holly and Addison rushed towards their target at treetop level, flooring the throttle. Suddenly, Addison noticed gunfire coming from makeshift dugouts around the radar station.

"Major! Watch out for that rats nest!" Addison warned, firing an AGM-65 through their vision slits as the firing position collapsed.

"Not bad Yellow Rose." Holly said, before dropping a bomb on the stragglers. "You missed one though."

Addison shrugged, as they neared the Thanh Hoa bridge. The final AAA emplacement fired wildly at them with its repeating laser cannon, filling the air with light as it attempted to track them. Just as they were about to attack, Holly heard a missile lock tone.

"Missile! Missile! Break!" She cried, as a portable surface to air missile whizzed between them. "Shoulder launched SAMs, enemy foot troops in the jungle!"

"They aren't showing up on my radar." Addison noted.

"Negative, radar is clear. I don't see any launchers." Olivia retorted. "Firefly and Spooky 21, once you've cleaned up move to support Memphis Belle II and Yellow Rose. Calamity Jane and Spirit of Great Britain standby for close air support bombing."

"Roger!" They responded in quick succession.

While Holly and Addison distracted the AA defenses, Denise and Shannon traced the missile exhaust to its source and hosed the jungle with bullets until there was a triumphant explosion. Olivia then gave Jane and Danielle vectors to bomb the fixed AA emplacement and radar station as iron rained from the sky and crushed the Teki gun crews.

"Triple Nickel to allied strike force, you are cleared for attack run on enemy armor." Olivia announced, as the fighter bombers moved in for the kill. The Phantoms and Corsairs swooped down like pelicans, dropping their guided Walleye bombs right on top of the Teki armored troops.

As the Phantoms and Corsairs were turning around, Olivia discovered new contacts on her radar. "Warning, new aerial contacts on radar."

"Friendly or foe?" Holly asked warily.

"No friendly response… enemy fighters. We didn't destroy the enemy radar fast enough." Olivia grumbled.

"We've beat them before, no sweat." Glenda smirked.

"No," Holly answered wearily. "We've mostly been up against their fighter-bombers. These are dedicated fighter craft, and they can be very dangerous according to our intel. They're small and nimble targets, but you have the weight and top speed advantage. If you remember nothing else, do NOT get into a turn fight or you will be one dead witch."

"You get that from Robin Olds?" Theresa inquired.

"Yeah, if you want to be the best, you learn from the best." Holly chuckled.

"This is F-105 flight lead, callsign 'Dagger 1,' we have radar contact – hostile fighters to the north of Thanh Hoa, about 50 kilometers out at 20 degrees, altitude ~900 meters. We can't outrun them on a full belly and we're almost bingo on fuel – requesting a ground target so we can ditch these bombs and run."

"Roger, friendly armor appears to have engaged remaining enemy armor, assist them at your discretion with close air support." Olivia instructed. "I'm sending the approach vectors to your onboard computer, you should see the marks on your radar display."

The F-105 pilot watched as the new coordinates appeared on his display and changed heading to follow the marker. The other F-105's roared in behind Dagger 1, each holding 16 x 750lb UGBL (UnGuided Bombs Large). The planes dropped their munitions and rolled slightly right as they pulled up into an Immelmann turn and looped out of the drop zone. The ground erupted with bombshells, either disabling or outright destroying them while the F-105's ran for home.

It wasn't long before the Teki fighters arrived, blazing through the air like little flying silverfish with wings. Bright red laser bullets streaked through the sky, as two of the trailing F-105's lost their wings and the pilots ejected.

"Get on those Teki, girls! Stay fast and stay alert!" Holly shouted, as they assumed a defensive formation.

"You're going to need support, I'll call USS America and get those Phantoms over here with a search and rescue chopper." Olivia interjected.

The A-7 Corsairs headed back towards the carrier, with their F-4's in tow. USS America had been alerted of the incoming fighters as well by Olivia and began readying a second wave of F-4C's equipped with AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder air to air missiles. The catapult barriers were raised, and the Condor Squadron were launched into the sky. They raced towards the Bomber Witches, with a pair of Huey med-evac choppers trailing behind them.

When the Condor F-4's arrived, there was a substantial furball waiting for them as the witches exchanged fire with their more agile opponents. Meryl and Jane had the most trouble, having the least agility of the group, as the fighters swarmed around them.

"Go away, you stalkers!" Jane cried, rocking her wings to avoid enemy fire.

Suddenly, she heard an incoming missile tone, as an AIM-7 Sparrow missile exploded behind her and incapacitated the enemy fighter.

Jane glanced to her right as an F-4C Phantom rocketed past her.

"Holy rock and rolly…" Jane muttered, her ears ringing from the engine noise.

"It's good to see you, Condor Squadron." Holly sighed with relief. "We couldn't hit the radar station in time and they were able to call Hanoi."

"I can see that – Not a problem Major Jones. We'll clear your tails and get you home safe." Condor 1 ordered.

"Roger that sir, lead the way." Holly smiled.

There were still several Teki fighters threatening the squadrons, as the F-4C's lumbered into the combat zone. Meryl could hear the warning buzzers as an enemy missile was locking on to her. Condor 1 used the heavy weight of his Phantom to dive in behind Meryl and the Teki, as he locked up the enemy and pulled the trigger. An AIM-9 Sidewinder heat seeking missile rocketed off his left wingtip pylon, as it went flying off, got confused, and locked on to the next closest heat source – the sun.

"Unbelievable." The pilot growled, firing an AIM-7 radar guided missile. It dropped off his plane, didn't ignite, and went hurtling toward the ground.

"Any day now…!" Meryl voiced her concern, deploying chaff as a Teki missile flew dangerously close to her and then swerved to follow the countermeasures.

The Phantom fired yet another AIM-7, this one finding the target and detonating on impact.

"Whew! Thank you, sir!" Meryl saluted, as he returned the salute.

"About damn time…" Condor 1 chuckled.

Denise and Shannon found themselves back to back, as the remaining Teki fighters surrounded them. The glanced over their shoulders at each other, with a devious nod as they both revved up their miniguns. The girls began to rotate with their backs against each other and filled the sky with bullets as the enemy melted before them.

"Yeah, get some!" Denise roared.

Shannon was about to taunt as well, when her gun suddenly jammed.

"Oh, not now…!" She squealed, attempting to shake out the spent ammo links.

Her eyes widened as she looked up and saw the last fighter heading for her.

"Cmon… cmon cmon CMON!" She yelled desperately, clearing the chamber and restarting the rotary drive.

The XM197 came to life again, expressively delivering the last fifty bullets in her ammo backpack before winding down again. The enemy fighter was ripped to shreds, and its burning carcass fell into the jungle.

"That was close… too close." Shannon wiped her forehead.

"Good job, Shan." Denise smiled.

"Easy for you to say!" Shannon playfully elbowed Denise.

Once the fighters had been swept up, the Condor squadron escorted the Bomber Witches back to the Midway as the sun was beginning to set on the Southeast Asian sky. The Huey's were able to find the downed pilots via a signal flare, and put them on stretchers as the choppers returned to USS America.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Thud Ridge**

The night passed quickly for the girls of the 7th JSF, as the USS Midway gently rocked in the Indochinese waters. When morning came, they went up to the bridge and were surprised to find Kurosawa was not in her chair.

"That's odd. Captain Aiko is usually up here by now with her morning coffee." Danielle noted.

"Indeed. It's not like her to be late for morning briefing." Addison concluded.

Holly ducked into the pilot house and presented her question to the helmsman. "Sir, where is the Captain?"

"Oh, she's been down to see Captain Chambers in the medical bay. Poor girl is down there every day and night, hoping for a miracle that'll never come." The helmsman sighed. "I'd like to believe he'll come back, but… there's not much left to hope for."

As the girls proceeded below deck to medical, Aiko was kneeling by Chamber's comatose body. He was still breathing, and receiving nutrients via intravenous drip, but his eyes remained closed and he could not respond to her. The heart monitor beeped at intervals, denoting the rather slow heart rate.

"Larry… Are you ever going to wake up? I don't know how much longer this war can continue with my inexperienced hands at the helm. This job is too big for me, and I wasn't meant for this position so soon." Aiko firmly held his hand in hers, as tears began to run down her pale face. "Please… wake up, Larry."

Holly was wise enough to stop the other girls behind her and take a small peek into the room through the window. She motioned for the other girls to wait, as she quietly slipped in. Aiko heard her footsteps, and her hand darted for the holstered Colt Commando pistol on her thigh.

"Oh, it's you?" Aiko wondered. "Don't sneak up on me like that…" She muttered, her arms relaxing as she wiped her eyes again.

"My apologies, Captain. We couldn't find you on the bridge and wandered down here. I didn't mean to frighten you." Holly admitted.

"Ah, it is that time again. I'm sorry, just give me a quick moment longer with Larry." Aiko sniffled.

Kurosawa removed her hat, leaned over Chambers, and planted a small kiss on his forehead before replacing her hat. "I'll be seeing you soon, Captain." She smiled, beginning to stand up as Dr. Franklin walked in to do his routine inspections.

The girls lingered, taking a moment of silence for the comatose captain, before turning to walk back upstairs. As they did, the heart rate on the monitor began to increase steadily, the intervals becoming shorter as the beeping quickened. Aiko turned around as the intermittent beeping became even faster, and then the graph began to nose dive as he flatlined.

"No… No, no! NO! Get the paddles, he needs a defibrillator!" Aiko shrieked.

Dr. Franklin wasted no time in retrieving the paddles as he charged them up, ripped open Larry's hospital gown, shouted, "CLEAR!" and firmly planted the defibrillator on the captain's chest. The body jolted a little from the electric shock, but there wasn't much improvement. Franklin rubbed the paddles together again and charged them, preparing for a second go.

"CLEAR!" Franklin shouted, jolting the body once more. "C'mon Larry, don't die on us now…!" Franklin yelled.

Before he could make a third attempt, the heart rate normalized as Larry began to cough violently. Slowly, his eyelids lifted as the irises adjusted to the hospital lighting. Suddenly, he began to scream and frantically wave his arms. "HARD TO PORT, BRACE FOR IMPACT…!"

Everyone stared in shock, as he looked around the room and realized where he was. His breathing returned to normal, as the doctor stowed the defibrillator paddles and checked his vitals. Franklin began a low rumbling in his chest, which turned into a hearty chuckle.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, my friend." Franklin said, as Larry sat up and they shook hands, then pulled each other into a brotherly hug. "You salty seadog…" Franklin said, as tears ran down his face.

Aiko also rushed to his side, saluting proudly. "Captain on deck!"

"At ease, Kurosawa." Larry smiled. "How long was I in Davy Jones' Locker?" He asked curiously.

"Days, weeks even. I've been so worried about you…" Aiko cried, firmly hugging Chambers. "But it's ok, you're here now."

Once he'd had time to stretch and have a hot meal, Captain Chambers was fully dressed and walking up to the bridge, where Aiko, the bridge crew, and the 7th JSF stood at attention.

"Captain on deck!" Aiko hollered once again, as they all saluted him.

Larry smiled proudly. "At east, everyone. It's good to see you've kept our 'Midway Magic' shipshape. Especially you, Aiko – you held everyone together while I was out and for that, I thank you."

"Thank you, sir. Shall we begin the briefing?" Aiko inquired.

"Oh, not me. I've been out of the loop for a good while now. Besides, I'm a firm believer you should finish what you've started." Larry grinned.

Aiko looked disappointed, but then reached for the morning report from the radio operator. "Well then, I didn't disappoint you then and I will not now, sir. Let's move this party to the war room then." She motioned.

As Aiko and the 7th JSF moved into the war room, Larry decided to stay on the bridge and catch up with his friends at the helm.

In the war room, Aiko had all her pins in place on the map as they all huddled around. Everyone was silent, as they saw the red thumbtack sticking out of the city Hanoi.

"I was hoping I wouldn't be giving this briefing, as it belongs to more responsible hands, but… Here is your target for today. Ladies, you're going to Hanoi." Aiko said definitively.

"What is the scale of this mission?" Holly inquired.

"Full scale. Thanks to your efforts at Dragon's Jaw, the ground forces have been rushing through with the supply lines hot on their tail. The Teki know they can't hold out much longer, so they've retreated all their troops into defensive ground positions around Hanoi. They've got everything from tanks to self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and possibly surface to surface missile platforms as well. Sixty kilometers to the northeast is Kep Air Base – the last aviation facility in Teki possession, and consequently where the last of their fighters are hiding. However, these are not your mission target – recent recon intelligence combined with infrared satellite scans suggest there may be survivors in the form of American POW's."

The room went silent.

"Prisoners Of War? Since when did the Teki take prisoners?" Candice's eyes widened in surprise.

"It's not very common, but if an airman is shot down over an enemy occupied area, they may be brought to Hanoi for torture and interrogation. We think this is how they discovered our bombing routes and moved their supply lines accordingly." Aiko said flatly.

Theresa suddenly lit up. "Do you think… Waltrud Draeger is down there?"

"There's no way to know for sure. What we do know is that there are three facilities where they are holding prisoners – the Hanoi Opera Hall, Hoa Lo Prison, and the US Embassy in downtown Hanoi. But the only way we could get them out of there is via a full-scale invasion of Hanoi. To minimize casualties this will be a two-phase mission: Phase 1 consists of the elimination of AA defense and defensive fortifications in and around Hanoi. During Phase 2, airborne infantry will arrive via UH-1 Huey's and CH-47 Chinook and drop into Hanoi, where they will advance under cover of the armored forces and storm Hanoi Opera Hall, Hoa Lo Prison, and the US Embassy. Getting them out… is another issue. We have no idea how many prisoners the Teki have taken exactly, and we may not have enough Huey's to get them out in one go. That said, we're going to bring them to Noi Bai International Airport, where we will have C-141 Starlifters waiting to pick them up. The Starlifters cannot get into Noi Bai until the fighters are destroyed, but you won't get any fighter support of your own until the AA defenses are down, so you'll have to be quick about it. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" The girls stood and saluted.

"Now, since you've completed the training missions with your instructor over the mountain ranges, you will be approaching through Thud Ridge. Running the valley is the optimal route going into Hanoi. It'll be filled with portable missiles and watch towers, but the mountains will shield you from more powerful and longer-range weapons in the city perimeter. Having been tried by fire, Dagger squadron's F-105's will be backing you up, and once the AA is silenced, F-4C's of Condor squadron will arrive to secure air superiority. Also be advised, one of our diplomats has arranged a deal with General Secretary Brezhnev of the Soviet Union – they have agreed to send several of their Ilyushin 76 cargo planes and T-72 main battle tanks from a base within southeast Russia, escorted by MiG-23 fighter jets south toward Vietnam. They will help us create a two-pronged offensive, but we must be cautious of ulterior motives. Above all else, do not let any harm come to the Soviet forces, or we might find ourselves in another war. Best of luck to you all." Aiko nodded, dismissing them.

Later, in the hangar…

"'Thud Ridge?' But that was weeks ago! And even then, we still didn't do _that_ well…" Glenda sighed.

"It matters not now." Danielle muttered, checking the action on her gun. "We need to put on a good show for the newsreels back home."

" _Good show?_ " Glenda raised her voice. "This isn't some game, Danielle."

"No, I mean it. Look around you." Danielle gestured, as she wiped down her weapon. "Our people - and the commanders for that matter - are getting real sick of this war. If we can't find a resolution soon, they may resort to something more… drastic."

"Heh. How would you know that? They wouldn't go dropping nukes… right Major?" Glenda asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

Holly deliberated, before answering. "It's not much different from WW2 if you think about it. In its origins, the use of nuclear weapons is a quick-gain solution with long term side effects."

"Bullshit!" Glenda kicked up some dust with her foot. "You mean to say that if we fail, all our work will be for nothing?"

"No, because we won't fail." Holly walked up to Glenda, getting in her face. "We can't allow any WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destruction) on this soil or who knows what will happen. They don't even know that it'll solve the problem - it may escalate a new problems. Those guys up there with LeMay, well… they're no better than the Teki sometimes. But that's why we're here, to be the deterring solution."

"Alright, let's cool it off a bit. Yeah?" Jane laughed nervously.

"One thing I'll tell you all – there better not be any bombs dropping near Hanoi Opera or the Embassy. If Draeger is alive, I'm going to find her." Theresa frowned.

"You can count on us, but the mission comes first." Denise raised an eyebrow.

"Denise is right, and the sooner you get into gear, the sooner we can find the POW's." Holly ordered, picking up her M60.

As the girls ascended to the flight deck and were catapulted into the sky, they noticed a considerable amount of UH-1 Huey's and AH-1G Cobra's on the deck, as the fleet steamed north to Haiphong – spitting distance from the capital Hanoi.

"Nerger, I'm going to need a preemptive strike when we approach Thud Ridge, got me?" Holly asked.

"You can count on me, chief." Jane smiled, readying her AGM-28 Hound Dog missiles. As she did, the other girls noticed a familiar rock and roll song beginning to play on the comm channel, and it was coming from Jane's tape deck. "Some folks are born, made to wave the flag, Ooh they're red white and blue. And when the band plays 'Hail to the Chief,' Ooh they point the cannon at you, Lord. It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, no. It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one." Jane sang.

For once, nobody objected to Jane's choice of music. The B-52 witch holstered her .50 cal guns and brought up a targeting interface to launch her cruise missiles. The faithful Hound Dog's roared to life as they dropped off her wing pylons and cantered through the sky. She had pre-programmed the coordinates into the astro-intertial guidance system, and retracted her targeting interface, pulling out her M45 Quadmount again. It was a strange defensive weapon for a bomber witch, being derived from a WW2 M3 GMC halftrack that had a quadruple .50 cal mount bolted to the truck bed. For the B-52D however, it was selected as the sole defensive – or offensive in this case – weapon that the plane could carry. Carrying two paired .50 cals in each hand, she looked like a predatorial creature with notorious claws. A steady beeping in her headset notified her that the Hound Dog's would be striking soon, and the intervals between beeps grew shorter as the missiles closed in. In the distance, the foremost Teki radar station atop Thud Ridge was engulfed in flames as an AGM-28 struck the building. The second was hit by the other cruise missile, blinding the enemy air defenses.

As the witches approached the valley, it was still littered with anti-aircraft guns on the ground which now had to rely on manual targeting in the absence of radar assistance. The morning sky was illuminated with tracer rounds that raced up to meet the witches, accompanied by semi-active portable missiles.

"Shields up! Let's rock n' roll!" Holly cried, as they all pooled their shield energy to create a massive iridescent magical barrier around the group and surged through the valley.

The girls returned fire against the Teki defenses, as the bullet casings rained from their formation. Hostile energy rounds bounced harmlessly off their combined shield power, as the witches traveled down the ravine. Every few meters there was an F-105D or F-4G carcass buried halfway into the grassy ravine, evidence of the carnage before them. They rounded the bend in the canyon and closed in on an old railway bridge that marked the end of the pass. An armored train was parked on the bridge, firing AA guns through the steel support girders as they approached. Danielle readied her Blue Steel missile, preset the range and launched it, detonating in between the supports and decommissioning the train. They increased speed, flying just inches between the crumbling concrete and alien steel debris until they were welcomed by the beautiful cityscape of Hanoi.

Or at least, it would be beautiful if not for the Teki. The once beautiful skyline was replaced by a miserable view of mutilated concrete, smoldering cars, and scorched skeletons huddled together in mass burial heaps. The girls hovered there in the air, surveying the scene in disbelief.

"Damn. I haven't seen anything this horrific since we saw the newsreels of postwar Berlin in school…" Danielle muttered.

"No shit." Glenda sighed. "And I thought humans were destructive…"

Denise continued looking around and noticed a massive solar panel farm connected to neon red power cables that ran down the main road. Her eyes followed the armored housings, until her eyes settled on a massive skyscraping monolith flanked by five smaller towers. The tallest building looked like the giant Paul Bunyan buried his mighty axe in the earth and left it there, and at the very top was an octagonal crystal that glowed eerily like a blood moon.

"Uh… girls?" Denise shuddered, pointing towards the monolithic fortress.

"Well, that must be how our recon planes got shot down." Holly frowned. "They said nothing could catch our best pilots, but if I'm not mistaken that is a laser-armed capital defense tower."

"…we can't outrun the speed of light." Glenda growled.

"Then we'll have to get creative." Holly grinned. "Listen up everyone," She said, as the girls all turned to face her. "This is our moment to shine and prove ourselves to the world. Having no intelligence on this weapon, we'll have to learn how it operates if we want any chance of defeating it. Approach from multiple directions and use the city buildings to terrain mask. Hailey, I need you to contact the airborne troops and tell them not to land until we have cleared the main aerial defense."

"Yes ma'am." Hailey saluted, retreating to a safe distance and activating her radio set.

"Candice and Glenda, you're going to collect information on the weapon. Examine the power sources, document firing patterns if it opens fire, and provide observation for fire support." Holly commanded.

"On it!" Glenda and Candice gave a thumbs up and thundered down the main street.

"Addison and Theresa, you'll be on suppressive fire duty. If we make a run on the firing position, you need to distract them until we're in range."

"Copy that!" Addison and Theresa saluted.

"I'm not sure how the armored groups will hold up, but in the meantime, I need Shannon and Denise to meet the incoming column and assist their advance into the city."

"We won't let you down!" Denise and Shannon shouted, roaring towards the interstate.

"Finally, Meryl, Danielle and Jane you're coming with me for the heavy strike team. If we find an opening, I want you to fill it with as many bombs as you can."

"You can count on us, ma'am." Meryl and Danielle said proudly.

Holly stopped and leaned over a bit, looking over at Jane who was busy fumbling with her cassette tapes.

"I gotta get some good tunes to set the mood…!" Jane pleaded.

"Well… hurry up." Holly encouraged, as she did one last check on her M60 machine gun.

Meanwhile, the 1st Armored Division was leading a column of M48/60 Patton tanks up the Ho Chi Minh Trail to Hanoi, accompanied by M163 Vulcan Air Defense Systems (VADS), M113 armored personnel carriers, and a couple of Willy jeeps pulling supply wagons.

Lt. Col. Rhodes signaled for the convoy to stop as Shannon and Denise landed near them.

"Fancy seeing you here again." Elizabeth smiled, as her A39 Tortoise units idled warmly.

"The feeling is mutual." Denise returned the greeting. "Our group is surveying Hanoi as we speak and… well it doesn't look good."

"Does it ever?" Erica chuckled, equipping her outer set of tracks for the T95 Gun Motor Carriage unit.

"Well, so far here's what we know – there's a giant laser defense tower in the city center, and we won't be able to get the choppers in here until it's taken down." Shannon concluded.

"Where do we come in?" Riley grinned, activating the stabilizer spade on her M12 GMC unit.

Denise slipped her a clever smile. "If you see anything that looks like a weakspot, you give them hell. Make them pay for Hanoi… and all the lives it's cost us to get here."

"Understood." Erica beamed bravely. "It's payback time."

"Easy, War Machine." Elizabeth put an arm around Erica. "We've all lost a lot, but you've got to keep your head on straight this time. I want you all to go home in one piece."

"Right. Thanks." Erica smiled back, loading her main cannon.

Back in Hanoi, the other Bomber Witches were flying covert, staying just under the protection of houses and shops as they glided down the streets. Candice and Glenda were examining the inner perimeter roads around Hanoi, keeping a watchful eye on the tower. Upon closer inspection, it was situated in the middle of Ho Tay lake at the epicenter of the city, with massive power cables linked to the artificial solar panel constructions.

"Blue Diamond to Memphis Belle II, what if we place timed explosives on the power cables? If we were to cut the power, we might reduce their ability to launch an attack." Candice radioed thoughtfully.

"Not a bad idea – use remote explosives though. And be careful, we have no idea what this thing can do." Holly warned.

As if on cue, Glenda began placing a detonator on the cable housing when the tower began to light up. She looked up as electricity danced in arcs up the monolith with intensely bright purple hues, collecting at what seemed to be a focal lens atop the building.

"GLENDA! MOVE!" Candice screamed, as a beam of light shot from the monolithic weapon and raced towards the witch.

Glenda dropped the charge and raced out of the way, as a beam of light incinerated the pavement. She glanced around, scowling as she checked her equipment. The beam narrowed as it faded out, and a considerable exhaust cloud vented from the main building as it shunted a stressed energy core onto one of the six cooling towers in exchange for a new one.

"Don't try your luck twice, Glenda." Holly started but was disregarded as Glenda charged into the air.

"This is probably the best chance I'll get, it's reloading…!" Glenda closed distance with the weapon, as it installed the new core and began to charge up again. At this proximity, the focal lens had difficulty tracking her, as the eye-like mechanism attempted to find her. It rotated a full 180 degrees, and Candice took note of the armored housings all around the turret.

"Glenda! Get back here so we can form a plan of attack!" Candice shrieked.

The lens was not catching up to Glenda at such close range, but then it suddenly stopped and reversed direction, opening with deadly laser fire. Not anticipating the attack, Glenda didn't activate her shield fast enough, as the blinding light fired right across her shoulder and nearly decapitated her.

"Gah! Fucking hell!" Glenda screamed, clutching her shoulder and retreating to Candice's position.

"Glenda?! Tell me where it hurts, I've got an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) with me!" Candice asked worriedly, running up to Glenda as she touched down and keeled over.

Glenda coughed violently from the pain. "Help! Medic! MEDIC!" She flailed helplessly, trying to tear the burnt clothing to reveal a horrific third-degree burn. The skin of her shoulder was bright red, and she began to cry desperately.

"Blue Diamond to Memphis Belle II. Glenda is hurt, her shoulder was almost incinerated by that thing. She needs medical attention." Candice radioed worriedly.

"I copy Blue Diamond, I will radio for a medevac chopper, but they can't land until that death beam is decommissioned. Tell me if you saw anything resembling a weak point." Holly answered.

"I didn't see much, but it seems like those cooling towers serve the main turret in offloading waste cores before replacing new ones into the chamber. It's like a ginormous bolt action rifle." Candice noted.

"Maybe we could shoot the cores before they're loaded into the chamber. Then they'll be unable to fire at full capacity." Theresa suggested.

"…don't you think that's equally dangerous?" Addison objected. "Those things could be nuclear bombs for all we know."

"Yellow Rose is right." Holly said. "We also can't wait for them to run out of cores, by that time our assault force will be right on top of us and they'll be a prime target for this thing. Stick to blowing up the power sources for now – then we'll try to go for the cooling towers. If the weapon loses power or builds up too much stress, the next time it fires it may damage itself." Holly concluded.

"The thing I'm wondering is, where are all their fighters?" Jane interjected.

"Come now Jane, the Teki are nobody's fool. They won't send fighters in while that weapon is active. That said, once it stops firing they're going to scramble every plane they have." Holly muttered dreadfully.

"Then we'll just have to shoot twice as fast!" Jane said gleefully.

Holly stared blankly, not understanding the logic in her words. "…ok, if you say so."

She was then distracted by a radio call from Hailey.

"Major Jones, the airborne cavalry is just on the horizon. They've already contacted me, Major Schwarzkopf of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and Major Colin Powell of 23rd Infantry Division are inbound. What should I tell them?"

"Negative, they cannot land at this time! The LZ is still hot!" Holly flared up. "Tell them to terrain mask and stay in solid cover until we take down the aerial defense weapon."

"Ok, please hurry. I'm getting a radio message from the Starlifters, they're 100 klicks (km) out from Kep Air Base with F-4 escorts, but I don't think that'll be enough to protect them."

Holly was distressed, as all this information came flooding in simultaneously. She looked at the menacing weapon, as it loomed over Hanoi with no regard for human life. "We've gotta do something… but what?"

"Major, they can only target one direction at a time," Danielle pointed out. "If we can bait them into shooting and then attack all at once, we just might have our window."

"Even then, we'd need an army of angels for a proper saturation attack…" Holly muttered.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Flashpoint**

Candice wrapped cooling packs and a sterile bandage over Glenda's shoulder, as she helped her sit up.

"Damn this war. Damn the Teki." Glenda scowled.

"Calm down, we're gonna make it through this." Candice reassured.

"What makes you so sure? That thing can probably shoot our bombs down in mid-air, then what?" Glenda seethed in pain.

"Attention 7th JSF units, this is Holly. We are preparing for a joint saturation attack in coordination with the army and airborne cavalry units." Holly stated. "Candice, I need you guys to play the bait just one more time, and when the weapon goes to reload cycle, we'll open fire with everything we've got."

Glenda looked disappointed and turned to Candice once more. "What if 'everything we've got' isn't enough?" She frowned.

"I… I don't know." Candice pondered. "But I've gotta get out there. Medevac can't get in here to help until there's a safe corridor for them to fly. Just stay here, yeah?"

Candice nervously fluttered back into the air, leaving Glenda tucked away in a former eatery that had caved in. As Candice frantically tried to distract the beam, Glenda noticed a grandiose but dilapidated building down the street, with _'_ _Nhà hát lớn Hà Nội'_ written on the sides. Glenda pulled out a small map with the mission objectives scribbled on it, as she unfolded it and took her bearings.

"This is this… that's this street… No way. That's the Opera House." Glenda realized, as she tried to stand up. Her burnt shoulder ached underneath the bandages, and she tried to hold in the painful cries as she began to walk towards the Hanoi Opera House.

If it weren't for the singed sign posts and advertisement posters outside, the once grand hall looked just like any other civic center in her eyes. The witch stumbled up the stairs and into the foyer, taking in the once beautiful art carvings and marble columns. Her footsteps echoed in the hall, and suddenly they were joined by a rustling and shuffling of children's feet.

"Who's there?" Glenda demanded, as the shuffling quickened, and a silhouette leaped behind the reception desk.

Glenda warily pulled out her .50 cal, wincing in pain from the weight as a small Vietnamese boy poked his head out of the darkness.

She relaxed a bit, sighing in relief. "Hi there. What's your name?" Glenda smiled warmly.

The child seemed enthralled as if he'd seen an angel, then scurried away inexplicably fast to the main auditorium.

"Wait!" Glenda exclaimed, doing her best to hurry after the boy, who squeezed through a small hole in the door. Glenda tried the handle, but it was barred shut from inside.

"Hello? Anybody there?" She inquired, leaning down to the small aperture.

There was a heavier rustling of boots, as a large male figure leaned down to look at her. "Oh, a visitor! Welcome!" A voice said.

"What? Who are you?" Glenda demanded.

"Oh, how rude of me. Lieutenant Jr Grade Everett Alvarez Jr., USN Airman." He stuck his hand through the wall, implying she should shake it.

As she extended her hand, Glenda noticed his rubber wristband, which was crudely engraved '8/5/64.'

Her eyes widened. "Wait, August 5th, 1964? _That_ Lieutenant Alvarez? The first US aviator of the war to be shot down and captured?"

"Yep, yep, and yep… that's me. And you are?"

"Captain Glenda Edwards, USAF, 7th Joint Strike Force. I'm one of the Bomber Witches."

"Well… ain't that swell!" He chuckled. "So, you're going to break us out?"

"'Us?' How many of you are there?"

"Uh… hard to say, at least a couple hundred. We're just managing to get by, thanks to our runner, Hien. He goes and scavenges supplies at night - something many of our boys were lost to. There may not be active guards here but going out there is suicide if you're caught in the open."

"That's horrible… we're trying to take down the laser right now, then the army and helicopters can collect you." Glenda frowned.

"The laser? You're not going to kill that thing from outside, it's like an armadillo. In his expeditions, Hien speculated that the central core is hidden near the base of the tower, in a tangled mess of construction we call 'Iron Jungle.' If you could get through that maze, you might be able to kill it. It's just really risky."

"Well we're not bringing in big guns, not until we can get you guys out so… I'll tell my superior and see what she thinks." Glenda noted. "You're sure about this?"

"Hien hasn't been wrong yet. We'll wait here for a signal, then we'll join up with whatever forces we can find." Alvarez stated.

"Good. You'll be free soon, just a little bit longer ok?" Glenda smiled, making her way to the street side. She tapped her radio earpiece and began to contact Holly. "Major, you won't believe this…"

Holly was providing support fire for Candice when Glenda's voice came through the radio. "…No, I don't believe it. In fact, that's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard." She said coldly. "You mean to imply that at the very climactic battle of the war in Vietnam we should trust a child's intuition?"

"…Do you have a better idea?" Glenda shot back. "It's clear our attacks aren't working, and we can't call in bigger weapons else we cause collateral damage to the city and kill the POW's."

"Is Draeger down there?" Theresa asked, amidst a burst from her Hispano.

"It's possible. There are several hundred US POW's down here, so it's hard to tell – and there's going to be more at Hoa Lo and the Embassy." Glenda responded.

"Major, please. We have to give it a shot." Theresa pleaded.

Holly deliberated, then gave in. "I'm gonna catch hell for this… All units, listen up!" Holly commanded. "I need a saturation attack while Addison, Theresa, Candice, and myself go in to attack the core structure. Once the attack run is complete, we will attempt to extract – please keep the skies clear until then. Denise and Shannon, you're the gatekeepers. Cover the entrances and exits during your orbits."

"Yes ma'am!" Denise and Shannon exclaimed.

"Y'know, I have just the thing for this…" Jane smiled, pulling out a tape cassette.

The sound of an upbeat guitar filled the radio waves, as the four girls rushed towards the tower. The rockabilly music was joined by the whirring of helicopter blades, as the AH-1 Cobra's and UH-1 Huey gunships moved in to support.

"I see a bad moon a-rising," Jane began to sing along.

"I see trouble on the way,

I see earthquakes and lightnin'

I see bad times today.

Don't go 'round tonight,

It's bound to take your life,

There's a bad moon on the rise…"

As the music played, Jane's voice was drowned out by a combined storm of bullets raining down on the main structure, while the cooling towers faced an onslaught of ATGM's (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles), rockets, grenades, and cannon fire. A purple arc raced up the tower, as the weapon attempted to fire again with the used core chambered. Instead of a brilliant beam, there was a terrifying roar as power kept surging up the tower and overloading the focal lens. The turret shattered like a million glass window panes, as electricity continued racing up the tower.

"Must be overloading, it's turning itself into a bomb…!" Holly realized. "Laser is down, gather the POW's and get the hell out of here! We'll punch out the core, maybe that will diffuse all the energy!"

The girls roared into the Iron Jungle, turning on their landing lights to try and avoid the shadowy wreckages. Holly's hair was standing from all the electric charge, and she noticed that on every few columns was a red disk, shaped somewhat like an eye.

"Eyes up, girls! They're all around us!" Holly shouted, as the core came into view surrounded by a swarm of Teki construction drones.

"What the…" Theresa began, as drills crunched into the earth, conveying materials into a makeshift forge and stamping out alien metal sheets.

"Someone's been a busy bee. Er, Teki." Candice shuddered.

"Look! The core…!" Addison beckoned as electricity surged into the octagonal structure, with a loud humming that made their hair stand up.

"Look out!" Holly cried, as an arc of lightning raced towards them. She positioned in between the other girls and the arc, attempting to absorb it with her shield. "Unf…! Agh!" She cried, as her shield crackled. "Return fire! Dammit!" Holly ordered.

The girls deployed their own shields in an attempt to help Holly, and opened fire. Even as they confirmed kills, new drones were rolling out of the core just as fast, in ever growing numbers.

" _What do I do…?"_ Holly thought. _"What would a Memphis Belle do? I'm scared, mom...!"_

Suddenly, she felt a new energy surging within her veins, and heard her mother's voice again.

" _Holly remember what I said baby. You have the gift too – your desire to help people is a driving force that can break any barricade."_

There was a warm feeling throughout her body, as Holly could feel power cascading throughout herself as blue hot lightning arced from her fingertips, striking the Teki core as it screeched eerily. Holly was as shocked as everyone else, as a blue aura emanated from her body.

"By Jove…" Addison gasped. "St. Elmo's Fire?!"

Holly turned her attention to the core and tried focusing all her energy towards it. The fiery lightning shot forth anew, breaking through to the inner core and shattering everything in its way. The bright redness faded to grey, as the structure shattered into wispy shards. The other Teki drones also shattered in a cascade of destruction as the tower above began shaking violently.

"Let's pull out of here girls!" Holly yelled, as they roared towards the exit.

"Denise! Shannon! We're coming out!" Theresa yelled, as the outside light blinded them.

The gunship witches watched as their comrades raced out, followed by a plume of rubble and smoke as the tower collapsed on itself.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, uh… major." Denise sighed, looking on curiously at the glowing witch.

"Indeed." Holly smiled. "Secure the airspace and call in the airborne cavalry. Glenda, give them the coordinates."

"Yes ma'am." Glenda chimed.

"Major, come in." Hailey radioed.

"Yes Hailey, go ahead." Holly answered.

"Words gotten out that the tower is done for. The Teki are scraping up every fighter they've got in a last-ditch attempt to kill off the POW's." Hailey worried. "You need to get them out of Hanoi, now."

"How close are they?" Holly sighed.

"First wave is half a klick out to the west of you, closing fast." Hailey voiced her concern.

"Memphis Belle II to all units, we've got incoming enemy fighters trying to terminate the POW's. We must hold them all off until the Huey's evacuate everyone. Don't let even one through!" Holly commanded.

"Roger that!" The girls responded in unison, as they raced to meet the enemy head on.

Denise and Shannon made first contact, firing up their Gatling guns and filling the sky with bullets. The swarm of Teki fighters dove out of the sky to meet them, like a plague of locusts.

"Denise! Shannon! Use your rate of fire to box them in, then Danielle and Jane can follow up with missile attacks." Holly ordered.

"Copy Major!" Denise and Shannon chirped, cutting through the enemy with a storm of bullets as they were focused into a smaller area.

"Spirit of Great Britain, firing Blue Steel! Cover your ears!" Danielle warned.

"Calamity Jane, firing Hound Dogs!" Jane followed up.

The wolfpack of missiles roared off the weapons pylons and detonated amidst the confused enemy formation. A few still pressed the attack, but the witches moved in to block their route. Just as they were picking off the last few, Hailey called again over the radio.

"Well done Major, the second wave made a poor decision on their route and got ripped apart by the fleets AA network, but the third wave is closing in on Kep Air Base to try and bomb the transports on the runway. There are a few operational AA guns on the ground, but they don't have enough firepower to repel a major attack." Hailey radioed.

"Copy that." Holly sighed. "Listen up! We can't let those transports die on the ground, so let's haul ass and clear the skies for them."

"Roger!" The girls responded in unison.

"Major, did the medevac pick up Glenda?" Candice worried.

"The medevac chopper should be touching down with the rest of the group, so yes they should be picking her up now." Holly smiled.

"And Draeger?" Theresa frowned.

"If she's down there, we'll find her." Holly encouraged.

As the witches approached Kep Air Base, the assault had already begun on the beleaguered transport planes. Of the original five C-141 Starlifters, one had been destroyed by enemy fire and another one lost to mechanical failures. The remaining three were barely kept alive by the M42 Duster's and M16 GMC halftracks they were carrying, who were outmatched in their fight for air superiority. A few dilapidated ZU-23-2 AA mounts were reactivated on the base by the infantry, to muster any extra firepower. Simultaneously, the Huey armada was approaching from the south, heavily laden with POW's and wounded soldiers.

"Damn…" Holly clenched her teeth, watching as tracer rounds filled the air. "Airborne Cavalry be advised we do not have air superiority. Please hold position until we can clear the skies."

"This is Major Powell. Please hurry, we've got a fair share of wounded and we're running low on fuel." Powell urged, as his helicopter swayed in the warm breeze.

"Understood Major Powell, leave it to us." Holly answered. "Alright girls, that's our signal for counterattack. Let's clean house!"

The girls acknowledged, as they rushed into the fray with guns blazing. Candice got on the tail of an enemy fighter-bomber, as they wove in between the airbase buildings. She fired a burst from her Hispano into its wing root, causing it to spiral into an empty hangar bay and disintegrate. Soon Addison found one on her tail but lead it towards Denise who wiped the alien out of the sky.

Glenda woke up on a stretcher aboard one of the Huey's, feeling the floor vibrate below her as the helicopter held position outside of Kep Air Base. She managed to sit up and strained painfully to grab the twin M60 door gun.

"Dammit, I'm not going to be useless today!" She growled, nudging the gunner aside and squeezing off a burst of fire at a passing Teki. Miraculously, she managed to hit it and whooped with joy before handing the gun back to the confused door gunner.

"Glenda, was that you?!" Jane hollered over the radio.

"Yeah, chalk one up for me!" Glenda laughed.

Even with Glenda's limited help, Holly kept glancing nervously at the transports as they idled on the runway, then back to the helicopters holding pattern around the base. She tried to focus her energy again, thinking about the desire to save her friends and the POW's. An enemy missile meant for Danielle flew off and strayed within inches of the lead chopper before exploding, and she watched in horror as it was engulfed in flames. The soldiers bailed out, their uniforms blazing as they hit the earth below. The electric charge began to flood Holly once more, as her eyes turned lightning blue with anger.

"Holy shit…" Theresa murmured. "Everyone stand back from Memphis Belle II!"

The girls made room for Holly as a trident of lightning bolts raced towards the Teki and charred them instantly. Another volley shot out from her fingertips, frying the remaining fighters alive until they were vaporized.

Once the last Teki had been shot down, Holly's muscles relaxed as she slowly passed out and fell out of the sky. Theresa raced to catch her, breaking the poor girl's fall as small arcs of lightning jumped eagerly over her before dissipating.

"Whuh…? Is it over?" Holly muttered as her eyes sleepily opened.

"It is now. That was hot, Major." Theresa giggled.

Holly blushed and attempted to sit up as the Huey's thundered overhead to the runway. The more severely wounded POW's were loaded up first into the Starlifters, receiving attention from the infantry field medics as the other men were admitted onboard. Several rows of makeshift seating were bolted into the floor of the cargo hold where the more able-bodied men were seated. There was much cheering and elation as they all signed their names on the front bulkhead with a permanent marker.

The captain pulled down his radio handset as the cargo ramp was closing and addressed the men. "Attention all passengers, this is your pilot speaking. Welcome aboard… Hanoi Taxi. Let's go home."

Another round of cheering and laughter exploded from the cargo hold, as the Starlifters rolled down the runway and took off, heading for home.

The empty Huey's dusted off before returning to Hanoi once more, watching the POW's as they scrambled on top of the US Embassy building, flailing their arms for help.

"There's so many left though… what do we do without the other planes?" Glenda radioed above the chopper noise.

"Not much we can do… or maybe there is something." Holly started. "Hailey, contact Midway."

A few minutes later…

"…You want us to do what?" Kurosawa echoed.

"Clear the deck. We must get the POW's out somehow now that we've lost two-thirds of our evacuation planes." Hailey responded.

There was a frustrated grumbling noise like an upset grizzly bear as Aiko found her words again. "…Fine. But I need time to get them all below deck."

"Acknowledged. Please do your best." Hailey smiled.

Aiko didn't answer and scrambled up a ladder to the air boss' tower.

"Get everything below deck, on the double." She ordered.

The air boss shot a perplexed glance at her, then turned on the PA system.

"General quarters, all hands. Stow all craft and clear the flight deck!" He ordered.

There was a massive commotion aboard the floating city, as ground crew scurried to tow the planes and navy choppers below deck. The elevator groaned in frustration as it clacked up and down the ship. In the hangar bay was an even greater commotion, as maintenance was stopped to free up all available space in the ship.

The Huey's landed one by one around and atop the US Embassy, as the POW's clambered aboard to safety. Glenda watched somberly as those in worst condition were loaded up first. She panned around in search of rations and did her best to feed the starving men.

"You're going to be ok. Everything is going to be ok." She smiled reassuringly, resting a young soldier's head on her lap and administering a liquid food solution.

The helicopters began to land on the USS Midway, as Schwarzkopf and Powell disembarked to speak to Captain Chambers while the other men went below deck.

"You have my utmost gratitude, Captain Chambers." Schwarzkopf noted.

"I'm just doing what my country would expect of me." Chambers smiled, as they shook hands.

As the helicopters began to wind down, one of the GI's looked very concerned as he held the young local boy Hien in his arms. He ran up to Major Schwarzkopf inquisitively and beckoned for his attention.

"Sir, are we pulling out?" He asked.

" _We_ are, the fighting is done here. A few ships and troops will stay behind to guard the SeaBees as they help rebuild North Vietnam's airfields and ports, so we can start restoring the country to working order." Schwarzkopf sighed. "There's a lot to be done. The first wave of supply and construction ships has already left Pearl Harbor on its way to Haiphong, we'll be passing them on the way home. We can't rebuild the whole country, but at least we can provide them some shelter and sustenance until normal life resumes."

"That's a relief to hear, sir. This young boy kept us going – he gathered food and intelligence to keep the POW's going this far, and I'm glad we can return the favor to his people." The soldier replied.

The commotion was interrupted once again as the air boss barked loudly over the PA. "Unknown aircraft you are entering restricted US Navy airspace, change course immediately!"

A small Cessna O-1 'Bird Dog' plane came into view, waggling its wings and turning on the landing lights. The servicemen were alarmed and began reaching for their rifles until the plane passed overhead, dropping a paper note. A nearby maintenance crew handed the note off to Chambers as the plane circled around in pattern.

"Can you move the helicopter to the other side, I can land on your runway, I can fly for one hour more, we have enough time to move. Please rescue me! Major Buang-Ly, wife and 4 children." Chambers read the note, clutching it tightly. "I'll be damned…" He muttered, reaching for his radio. "Crow's Nest, please confirm the occupancy onboard that observation plane."

The ship's lookouts stared through binoculars at the plane and couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the Vietnamese Major, his wife, and four crying children just as the note said.

"Sir! Confirmed, one South Vietnamese Major, wife, and four very afraid children." The lookout reported.

Chambers debated for a moment, before turning to the ground crew and pointing towards the choppers blocking the runway. "Push 'em over."

"But sir!" The crew chief began.

"Chambers, are you sure about this?" Schwarzkopf raised an eyebrow.

"If it was your family, would you not do the same?" Chambers looked back at the army major.

Schwarzkopf was silent for a moment. "Very well, you'll be taking full responsibility for this?"

"Of course." Chambers replied dryly, turning back to the ground crew. "Push 'em over!"

The crew chief was stunned, and reluctantly saluted. "Yes sir. You heard the man, push 'em over!" He turned to his crew, as he and twenty other aircraft handling crew started pushing against the Huey's. There was a loud screeching sound as the helicopter skids strained against the deck, before the metal beast was pushed overboard into the water with a tremendous splash. The other two Huey's were disposed of in a similar manner, as the runway was cleared up for Major Buang.

The Landing Signal Officer (LSO) began signaling Major Buang to land, and the plane began to sputter as he brought it around for final approach. The major lowered his flaps, before realizing his descent slope was too deep and began pushing up the throttle. As he did, the last drop of fuel came out of the tank, and the propeller sputtered to a stop. Everyone held their breath as the small plane floated down for what seemed like hours, until the wheels touched down and they slowed to a standstill.

Cheering erupted from the deck crew, as the red jacketed crash crews ran in to help everyone out. Buang got out and helped the crash crew extract his family, as the fire extinguishers were held at the ready. Major Buang scratched his head and chuckled a little as he gave his family a hug, then saluted Captain Chambers.

Suddenly, Hien stirred in the soldier's arms. "Cha? Cha!"

"What's he saying?" Schwarzkopf asked.

"He's saying… _father_." The soldier replied, letting Hien down as he ran over to Major Buang.

"Hien!" Buang cried in elation as they ran to each other and he picked his son up.

"Hien?!" His wife ran over crying with the children, and they also joined the group hug.

Schwarzkopf and Chambers just looked on in amazement, as the Midway gently made its way through the harbor.


	14. Chapter 13 (Epilogue)

**Epilogue**

The witches landed on Midway in the evening and sat down to supper in the mess hall. It was incredibly crowded, until they realized that the men in front of them were the POW's they had rescued. The skinny men were constantly shivering until the laundry crew came up and began handing out blankets. Wrapped up like newborns, the deprived servicemen were elated as the kitchen cranked out a feast fit for kings – piping hot roast beef, mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, and a savory beef gravy. For dessert they had produced pan after pan of Brown Apple Betty, accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A strange mixture of tears and cheers erupted from the servicemen, as they could not contain their excitement, addressing the kitchen staff as angels from heaven.

"Wow… There are so many of them…" Jane began to tear up.

"I've never seen such a joyful ruckus in all my life." Shannon smiled.

"If people asked me ten years from now whether I thought this war was worth it, I'd think back to this moment and answer 'Fuck yeah.'" Glenda giggled.

Next day, the 7th JSF received their orders to fly home – a sort of bittersweet moment for everyone. The bomber units were loaded on to the elevator and were lifted to the flight deck with the witches, where Kurosawa and Chambers were blocking their path. The girls saluted, and it was returned as Chambers stepped forward.

"I'm very proud of all of you, taking the lead in my absence. Especially you, Kurosawa." He said warmly, as Aiko blushed profusely.

"I did what was expected of me, sir." She tugged on the brim of her hat.

"The hell you did." Larry laughed. "It prides me to know that you're more than capable of running this ship."

"Sir…!" Aiko stammered. "You couldn't mean-!"

"It's not in my power to promise anything, but I'll put in a good word for you." He winked. "Now girls, I hate to see you go but you've got your whole life ahead of you. Make it worth it."

"Sir yes sir!" The witches saluted.

Chambers was taken aside by a flight deck officer, and Aiko was left alone with the witches.

"Well… This is it." She twiddled her thumbs.

"Aw c'mon, you can do better than that." Glenda smirked.

"Pardon?" Aiko retorted.

"DOG PILE!" Denise shouted, as they all ran in to embrace her.

"H-hey! Watch your hands! No! That tickles!" Aiko laughed, until the hugging subsided. "Oh lord, I'm going to miss you girls." She sighed.

"You never know, we might meet again. Or maybe you'll meet someone else." Denise teased.

"Well, time will tell." Aiko smiled. "I want to wish you all good luck and great success in the future."

"And you as well, Kurosawa." Holly giggled. "C'mon girls, the home front awaits." Holly ordered, as they all gave Aiko a parting hug.

"Wait! Waaaaaiiit!" An unknown voice called out.

Theresa turned to see a very skinny girl running towards them. She recognized the voice, but not the person yelling. Aside from her malnourished body, the girl had long light blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a very dirty flight suit with dust and blood stains all over it.

"Wait…" Theresa squinted to read the name tag. "DRAEGER?!"

"BOLSTEAD! IT'S ME!" The girl urged.

Theresa dropped her gear and ran over to embrace the poor girl and was shocked to feel almost nothing but bone clutching against her.

"Dios mio… I thought I'd never find you again…" Terry began to cry, as Waltrud also cried on her shoulder.

"I was so scared… You wouldn't believe the things I've done to get here." Waltrud sobbed. "I missed you so much, and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of seeing you again."

"Well, can you fly? Why don't you come back with us?" Theresa pulled back a little.

"My bomber unit is destroyed. Our flight was bounced by a Teki squadron and I was the sole survivor. I salvaged what little I could before journeying to the city on foot where I found the other POW's, but there wasn't much they could do for me – too many survivors and not enough chow to go around. Every day was a struggle, with us waking up and seeing who didn't last the night. Things got so bad that about a third of our group tried to escape one night, only to be gunned down by roaming patrols… I still remember their faces…" She trailed off.

"Hey, I'm not going to leave you here. Not like this." Terry stood to her feet and turned to Aiko. "Can you lend us a hand?"

"I'll call for a C-2 Greyhound transport to follow you. It's the least I can do." Aiko grinned.

"Thank you, Aiko." Theresa squealed, as she held Waltrud tightly.

Later in the air…

The girls flew further from USS Midway and her crowded decks, until she, the fleet, and the Vietnam coastline disappeared in the Pacific. The hum of turbofans and turboprop engines filled the air, as they made their journey across the ocean. The C-2 Greyhound trundled along behind them, and Waltrud was given a radio earpiece to join the conversation.

"Anybody want some music?" Jane inquired.

"Dealers choice." Holly smiled.

"Got just the thing, boss." Jane beamed, loading up a cassette tape.

An acoustic guitar filled the comm channel as Jane patched it through.

"Almost heaven, West Virginia

Blue Ridge mountains, Shenandoah River." The girls all joined in as the chorus approached.

"Life is old here, older than the trees

Younger than the mountains, blowing like the breeze

"Country roads, take me home

To the place, I belong

West Virginia, mountain momma

Take me home, country roads.

"All my memories gather round her

Miner's lady, stranger to blue water

Dark and dusty, painted on the sky

Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye

"Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

"I hear her voice, in the morning hour she calls me

The radio reminds me of my home far away

And driving down the road I get a feeling

That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

"Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

"Take me home, down country roads

Take me home, down country roads…"

 **THE END**


End file.
